Self-medication in elderly primary care

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To describe the practice of self-medication in the elderly assisted in Primary Care. METHOD: Cross-sectional, descriptive and exploratory study carried out with elderly people enrolled in the Family Health Strategy (FHS) Mutirão in the municipality of Cocal, Piauí, Brazil. Elderly people with physical and functional autonomy were included. The data were collected through the application of a questionnaire containing sociodemographic data and data related to the practice of self-medication. The analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: A total of 35 elderly were included in the sample, with a mean age of 70 (± 6.6) years and a predominance of females (65.7%). It was found that 80% of participants reported using medications on a regular basis, 62.8% did not receive information about the dangers of self-medication, 68.6% took medication without a prescription and 48.6% used medication indicated by a neighbor / friend / relative. Pain followed by the flu / cold were the most common reasons for self-medication. Pharmaceutical counseling (74.3%) and having solved the health problem before the medical consultation (68.6%) are among the causes that favored this practice. CONCLUSION: The data suggest that self-medication among the elderly is common, especially in pain and colds, and that the difficulty of access to medical consultation, pharmaceutical guidance and ignorance of the dangers predispose to this practice.