Impact of polypharmacy and the use of medicines associated with the risk of falls in the elderly: Impact of polypharmacy associated with the risk of falls

Objective: to associate polypharmacy and medication classes with the risk of falls in the elderly. Method: cross-sectional and quantitative study, carried out in an outpatient clinic in the city of São Paulo – SP, with 117 elderly people, from March to November 2019. Data collection was carried out...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Soares, Cristiane Regina, Okuno, Meiry Fernanda Pinto
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO)
Repositorio:Revista de Pesquisa: Cuidado é Fundamental Online
Idioma:portugués
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.seer.unirio.br:article/13055
Acceso en línea:https://seer.unirio.br/cuidadofundamental/article/view/13055
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Acidentes por quedas
Envelhecimento
Polimedicação
Saúde do idoso
Accidental falls
Aging
Polypharmacy
Health of the elderly
Descripción
Sumario:Objective: to associate polypharmacy and medication classes with the risk of falls in the elderly. Method: cross-sectional and quantitative study, carried out in an outpatient clinic in the city of São Paulo – SP, with 117 elderly people, from March to November 2019. Data collection was carried out by full transcription of prescriptions and the Falls Risk Scale from Downton. The statistical tests used were the Mann-Whitney and Chi-Square, considering a significance level of 5% and a confidence interval of 95%. Results: the risk of falls presented significantly with the number of medications, an average of 5.8 per day (p<0.0001) and the medication classes, antihypertensives (p<0.0001), oral antidiabetics (p =0.027), diuretics (p<0.0001) and antidepressants (p=0.042). Conclusion: therefore, the importance of evaluating factors related to the increased risk of falls is highlighted, to plan and implement strategies in the health care of the elderly.