Polypharmacy in Elderly Patients in a Community Pharmacy

Introduction: The definition of polypharmacy is not consensual, but all authors refer it as the simultaneous use and the chronic way, of several drugs by the same person. Polypharmacy affects mainly the elderly and it is due to the high number of chronic diseases in this population and consequent need to take medications to control them. Aims: Characterization and quantification of polypharmacy in a rural elderly population. Materials and Methods: It carried out an observational, retrospective, transversal and analytical study in Farmácia Popular (Pombal). Total of 230 individuals aged 65 years old or more were surveyed and the data collection was made through a questionnaire prepared for this purpose, in time between February and April 2017. Results: The elderly took, on mean, 6.20 drugs daily. The prevalence of Major polypharmacy (≥ 5 medications) was 70.4%. The most prescribed pharmacotherapeutics groups were cardiovascular and central nervous system. There were statistically significant differences between age and number of medicaments taken, as well between number of drugs and the way to identify the medication, the knowledge of the therapeutics indications, the occurrence of mistakes or take outside advised time, and the self-perception of health state (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: In view of the obtained results, it concludes that polypharmacy is very high in Portuguese population in study. It is the persons most aged who consume a greater number of drugs. The elderly with less academic qualifications are those who have more difficulty in identifying medication and respective therapeutics indications. It is necessary to adopt strategies in order to reduce polypharmacy, with the prescriber and the professionals of pharmacy a preponderant role in this task.