Use of Medicines Among a Brazilian Elderly Sample: A Cross-sectional Study

Background The use of multiple medicines is very frequent among the elderly, allowing them to perceive more often adverse side effects from drugs and present undesirable drug interactions. Methods This article presents a cross-sectional survey about the use of medicines among 300 elderly Brazilians, equally divided into institutionalized and community-dwelling groups. Results The average daily intake of medicines is 3.2 among institutionalized elderly, a higher ( p < 0.001) number when compared with community-dwelling elderly, who takes an average of 1.8 medicines daily. The most commonly used medications are antihypertensives (58.0%), diuretics (23.0%), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (22.7%), supplements (21.7%), antidiabetics (16.3%), and antiulcerants (14.0%). Antiulcerants, diuretics, supplements, and central nervous system drugs are more frequently used by institutionalized than by community-dwelling elderly. Conclusion In this Brazilian elderly sample, the most widely used medicines were antihypertensives, diuretics, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and institutionalized used more medications than community-dwelling elderly.