Características relacionadas à compreensão da Farmacoterapia entre idosos atendidos na atenção primária a saúde

Abstract

Introduction: Lack of information on the pharmacotherapy is a major factor responsible for the use of drugs in disagree with the prescription, which can cause negative health consequences. Older people are affected by more diseases, which leads to greater use of medicines. Considering the aging population and the increased complexity of pharmacotherapy in the elderly, it is necessary to investigate the understanding of such individuals in relation to pharmacotherapy in order to improve the care for this population group. Objective: To evaluate the level of understanding of pharmacotherapy and the characteristics related to understanding among elderly assisted in primary health care of Belo Horizonte-MG. Methods: Cross-sectional study, the analytical type, carried out in two Basic Health Units (BHU). The study included patients with 60 years who received at least one drug in pharmacies of BHU, carrying at least one drug at the time of interview, composing a sample of 227 elderly. The level of understanding of individuals on the pharmacotherapy was assessed by structured interview with questions regarding items: drug name, dose, frequency of administration, purpose, precautions and adverse effects. The agreement between the responses of individuals and the prescription was analyzed by reviewers and the overall level of understanding was rated as insufficient if the score was less than 70%. We conducted univariate and multivariate logistic regression to identify the selected variables independently associated with the level of understanding. The data were entered into the database using Epi Info 3.5.4 and analyzed in SPSS 21. Results: Of the 227 patients included, 51.1% had insufficient understanding in relation to pharmacotherapy (<6.3 points). The average of global level of understanding of pharmacotherapy among the elderly was 6.02 (SD = 1.5). About 71.0% were women, 75.7% with up to eight years of schooling, 60.9% of individuals with income up to two salaries. The frequency of right answers to each item asked about pharmacotherapy was 86.2% to the dose; 84.4% for the purpose, 82.7% for the frequency of administration; 75.8% to the drug name; 24.0% for precautions and only 6.9% for adverse effects. Multivariate logistic regression showed that education (OR = 2.40, CI = 1.38 to 4.19; p = 0.001) and independence for the use of drugs (OR = 3.02, CI = 1.33 to 6, 88; p = 0.030) showed a significant and independent association with the understanding of pharmacotherapy. Conclusion: We identified a significant proportion of elderly without a minimum level of understanding of pharmacotherapy which may indicate a high potential risk of ineffective and security issues. A worse education and a dependence to the use of the drugs were characteristics associated with insufficient understanding of pharmacotherapy. Health services should be prepared to help and advise elderly in relation to medicines, especially those with low education.