Automedicação em idosos de uma cidade do sertão paraibano.

Abstract

The aging of the world population is an important milestone in the life expectancy of people at all levels of development in the countries, and the population has been evolving into the third age due to the reduction of fertility and infant mortality, as well as the increase in life expectancy. It is estimated that, in a decade, Brazil will be the sixth country in the world in terms of the number of elderly people, who will need attention and health care. Progression to chronic diseases due to aging and promoted by the reduction of physiological functions leads to the need for the use of multipharmaceuticals (polypharmacy), which, together with the use of medicines without medical guidance, can lead the elderly to develop reactions of pharmacological interactions. In the meantime, the present study investigated the use of prescription and nonprescription medications by a competent health professional (self-medication) by the elderly of a residential condominium in the city of Cajazeiras - PB. An epidemiological study with a quantitative and descriptive approach was carried out with elderly residents in the residential condominium Cidade Madura, in the municipality of Cajazeiras - PB, using a structured questionnaire, which was applied through interviews with the study population. The present study respected the ethical aspects advocated by Res. 466/12 of the National Health Council (opinion No. 41377314.5.0000.5575) with the use of an Informed Consent Term (ICT), used as a criterion for the inclusion of individuals in the research. The demographic profile of the population was composed of elderly in the age group of 60 to 95 years of age, with low level of education and who use medication without a prescription in a total of 37 elderly people. The media that encouraged interviewees to use the various drug classes through self-medication were: a) friends and neighbors (53%); pharmacy (30%), family (12%), advertising (5%). The most frequently used drug classes were analgesics and antipyretics (50%), muscle relaxants (24%), anti-inflammatories (12%), calcium repository (5%), antispasmodics (4%), (3%) and laxatives (2%). The elderly interviewed used the drugs because they were easy to buy (46%); (39%) and why they took it once and decided (12%). We should emphasize that self-medication is a self-care practice, but it must be done in a responsible way so that there is no harm to health. In this context, nurses' orientation assumes a very important role in health promotion, so that self-medication is an increasingly absent practice, aiming at minimizing drug interactions and exposing the individual to unnecessary health risks.