Consecuencias de la polifarmacia en la calidad de vida de los miembros del programa del adulto mayor del IESS Riobamba durante el período marzo-septiembre 2014.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the association between polypharmacy and quality of life in the elderly. A retrospective cohort study with 62 people aged 65 or older, belonging to the "Program for Older Adults" at IESS of Riobamba city was conducted over a six month follow up. Polypharmacy was defined as the simultaneous use of 4 or more medications prescribed by a physician without including vitamins and minerals. A targeted suvey and geriatric assessment test to evaluate the components of quality of life in older adults exposed to polypharmacy and unexposed was used. The average number of drugs used per person was 1.27 for seniors without Polypharmacy and 5 for those that presented this feature, polypharmacy was present in 40.32% of subjects. They received potentially inappropriate medications (MPI) 25.8% of all interviewed according to the 2012 Beers criteria. This investigation confirmed that polypharmacy is a frequent occurrence in the elderly and was associated with decreased functional capacity (p <0.001), low levels of self-rated health (p <0.05) higher incidence of depression (p <0.05), falls (p = 0.001), insomnia (p = 0.003), adverse drug efects (p = 0.002) and impaired of self-perceived quality of life (p <0.05). Therefore, it is concluded that exposure to polypharmacy of the elderly is related to the deterioration of their quality of life, so it should be avoided.