Drug misuse and potential problems in elderly patients: General properties the drug use in old age

Abstract

Inappropriate drug use is a common problem in older people. Many older patients take their medications incor-rectly and large number of patients receive over the counter drugs from the pharmacy. In this study we evaluated general properties of the drug use in a community dwelling. Two hundred twenty five people were assessed by patients' files and local physician's reports. Among them, 189 had various chronic diseases which were diagnosed in several hospitals and 36 had no diagnosed chronic disease. Hypertension (57 patients, 25.3%), neuropsychiatrie problems (50 patients, 22.2%), atherosclerotic heart disease (32 patients, 14.2%) were the most common diseases. When the drugs examined, 31% of the consumed drugs were cardiovascular agents, 12.5% was neuropsychiatrie drugs and 9.6% was diuretics. Almost 21% of people were not using regular medication, also 25% of the people were receiving one regular medication. Average medication for each patient per day was 3.4. Percentage of the peo-ple who takes 3 or more regular medication was 60%. Among them, 29 patients (13%) were taking inappropriate medications which can be dangerous. The most common drug misuse was taking same compounds which have dif-ferent trade names (10 patients). Average medication in patients who have inappropriate drug use was 5 drugs per day. This study shows that drug misuse is somewhat common problem in older age patients. Therefore, avoiding drug reactions and writing safe prescriptions needs extra care and efforts.