Self-Medication in Older Urban Mexicans An Observational, Descriptive, Cross-Sectional Study
Self-Medication in Older Urban Mexicans An Observational, Descriptive, Cross-Sectional Study
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DOI：
10.2165/0002512-200926010-00004
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发表时间：
2009-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
Figueras, Albert
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Balbuena, Fernando Ruiz;Aranda, Alfredo Briones;Figueras, Albert
背景资料：老年人的自我药疗可能是有问题的，特别是如果没有处方的补救措施与处方药物相互作用，或者如果它们产生不良反应。在设计干预措施，以改善自我药疗，它是重要的特点在当地人口的自我药疗模式。这可以很容易地实现，通过进行简单的surveillance.Objective：要量化和描述的人口，社会经济和药理学特征之间的老年城市人口中的自我药疗在恰帕斯州，Mexica.Methods：一个观察性的，描述性的，横断面研究进行，使用集团抽样技术。在图斯特拉·古铁雷斯（墨西哥恰帕斯州）市区共有245名老年（年龄>= 65岁）居民参与了这项研究。关于自我用药和人口统计学和社会经济学变量的信息是从一个特定的结构化访谈，是由一个受过专门训练的医生进行的。结果：超过一半的245名受访的老年人（131 [53.5%; 95%CI 47.2，59.7））报告在过去30天内服用药物，而无需处方。与已婚人士相比，独居的老年人（p = 0.0274）和文盲或教育水平低的人相比，具有中学和高中学位的人（p = 0.0036），自我药疗的频率明显更高。NSAID（占药物的36.2%）和抗组胺药（12.6%）是最常作为自我药疗使用的药物。最常引用的自我用药原因是肌肉和关节疼痛（占药物的19.9%），上呼吸道问题（15.9%）和咳嗽（7.3%）。然而，13%的自我治疗的人在没有医疗监督的情况下服用了高血压药物（占所有药物的11%）。33例（25.2%）患者的既往处方可作为未来自我用药的基础。最后，35（26.7%）自我药疗的患者报告说，他们经历了药物的不良反应，他们正在服用.Conclusion：自我药疗在老年人是一个问题，应该认真解决的公共卫生政策。像目前这样的调查很容易进行（并且可以方便地在初级保健环境中进行），迅速获得有关当地人口自我药疗的真实性质的信息，并为设计未来的干预措施提供基础。本研究中与自我药疗相关的因素，包括社会经济特征（例如，大多数自我治疗者受教育程度低或独居）和治疗考虑因素（例如，相当比例的患者自我治疗高血压，使用既往处方作为自我治疗的基础，或报告自我治疗的不良反应），是今后设计有效和适当针对性干预措施的重要线索。
Background: Self-medication in older adults can be problematic, especially if remedies taken without prescription interact with prescribed medications or if they produce adverse effects. Before designing interventions to improve self-medication, it is important to characterize patterns of self-medicating in local populations. This can be easily achieved through the conduct of simple surveys.Objective: To quantify and describe the demographic, socioeconomic and pharmacological characteristics of self-medication among a geriatric urban population in Chiapas, Mexico.Methods: An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted, using a conglomerate sampling technique. A total of 245 older (aged >= 65 years) residents in the downtown area of Tuxtla Gutierrez (Chiapas, Mexico) participated in the study. Information on self-medication and demographic and socioeconomic variables was obtained from a specific structured interview that was conducted by a single specially trained physician.Results: More than half of the 245 interviewed older adults (131 [53.5%; 95% CI 47.2, 59.7)) reported taking a medicine without prescription during the last 30 days. Self-medication was significantly more frequent among older adults who lived alone compared with married people (p = 0.0274) and among the illiterate or those with a low level of education compared with people with secondary and high-school degrees (p = 0.0036). NSAIDs (36.2% of medications) and antihistamines (12.6%) were the most frequent drugs taken as self-medication. The most frequently cited reasons for self-medicating were muscle and joint pain (19.9% of medications), upper respiratory tract problems (15.9%) and cough (7.3%). However, 13% of people who self-medicated took a remedy for hypertension (11% of all medications) without medical supervision. Previous prescriptions could have served as the basis for future self-medication in 33 (25.2%) patients. Finally, 35 (26.7%) patients who self-medicated reported that they had experienced adverse effects from the drug they were taking.Conclusion: Self-medication in older adults is a problem that should be carefully addressed in public health policies. Surveys such as the present one are easy to carry out (and could conveniently be conducted in primary care settings), rapidly yield information about the true nature of self-medication in local populations, and provide a basis on which to design future interventions. Factors associated with self-medication in this study, including both socioeconomic characteristics (e.g. most self-medicators were poorly educated or lived alone) and therapeutic considerations (e.g. substantial proportions of patients self-medicated for hypertension, used previous prescriptions as the basis for self-medication, or reported adverse effects of self-medication), are vital clues to the design of effective and appropriately targeted interventions in the future.