Abstract
Introduction: Aging is frequently accompanied by chronic conditions (CC), and their treatment requires the use of multiple medications 1,2,3 . Although necessary, polypharmacy can lead to negative self-perception of health and medication-related problems (MRPs) 2,4 . Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate self-perception of health and polypharmacy in elderly individuals attending a geriatrics outpatient clinic. Material and Method: This is an exploratory and descriptive study conducted between June 2024 and April 2025. Elderly individuals (EI) aged 60 years or older attending a specialty outpatient clinic of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) in Espírito Santo were included in the study. After the geriatric medical consultation, the patient was referred to pharmaceutical care, where sociodemographic information, health history, and medication use data were collected. The data were documented in a form adapted from the Dáder Method for pharmacotherapeutic monitoring. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the correlation between age and number of medications and self-perception of health and the number of medications in use. For this purpose, Spearman's correlation test, Chi-square test, and Kruskal-Wallis test were used, respectively. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee, according to opinion no. 6.071.609. Results and Discussion: 58 patients were attended, 69% of whom were women with an average age of 78 years. During pharmaceutical care, the most prevalent clinical conditions were observed to be: hypertension (91%), dyslipidemia (52%), diabetes (20%), pain (36%), neurodegenerative diseases (14%), and mood disorders (19%). To treat these conditions, 81% used 5 or more medications, and an average of 7.9 medications were prescribed per patient. The most commonly used medications to treat these health problems were: antihypertensives (31%), analgesics (31%), hypoglycemic agents (14%), lipid-lowering agents (9%), and antidepressants (11%). Most respondents stated they were familiar with their medication therapy (76%), however, 57% reported drug-related problems (DRPs). The main causes of the detected DRPs were: administration errors (35%), non-adherence (27.5%), adverse reactions (15%), among other causes (22.5%). Regarding self-perceived health, 27% reported good health, 44% reported fair health, and 20% rated it as poor or very poor. Variables such as age and polypharmacy did not show an association with self-perceived health, suggesting that other factors may be involved in these conditions. Conclusions: A high prevalence of chronic conditions was observed among the elderly patients treated. Polypharmacy was accompanied by DRPs, mainly administration errors and non-adherence. In addition, a self-perception of regular or negative health was observed in most of the participating elderly individuals. Despite the high prevalence of diseases and their complications, it was not possible to affirm that these factors affected the subjective perception of health of the elderly at this time. Even so, pharmacists should develop practices aimed at promoting the rational use of medications by elderly individuals and contribute to longevity with quality of life.
