Uso de medicamentos analgésicos e adjuvantes em um ambulatório de geriatria: prevalência e fatores associados.

Abstract

The prevalence of chronic pain increases steadily until the age of 70. In this context, the use of analgesic and adjuvant medications becomes essential to improve functional capacity in this population. In this sense, the objective of this work was to describe the quantity, the profile, evaluate the prevalence and investigate the factors associated with the use of analgesics and adjuvants for pain among elderly people admitted to a supplementary health outpatient clinic in Belo Horizonte (MG). To this end, a cross-sectional study was carried out, in which the studied population consisted of all elderly patients (60 years or older) diagnosed with chronic diseases that recur with pain admitted to the outpatient clinic between May 2019 and January 2022, and who presented complete data for all variables studied (n =1,101). The number of medications, medication profile and prevalence of use of analgesics and adjuvants in elderly patients were described and their association with variables from the Functional Clinical Vulnerability Index (IVCF-20) was assessed using logistic regression. The prevalence of use of analgesics and adjuvants was 59.9%, with pregabalin being the most used analgesics (15%, followed by dipyrone (7.3%) and paracetamol (3.7%). Among the adjuvants duloxetine (18.4%), venlafaxine (11.8%) and escitalopram (10.3%). In the multivariate model, the use of at least one analgesic/adjuvant was positively associated with variables related to the female sex, worse self-perception health, inability to carry out instrumental activities of daily living and reduced mobility. This study provides important data on how elderly people are treated, highlighting the impact of treatment on the functional incapacity of elderly people.