ABSTRACT
Background: Statins are effectively used for the treatment of dyslipidemias in geriatric patients. The geriatric patients are more vulnerable to experience consequences of drug intensification leading to the manifestation of adverse effects, such as muscle related adverse effects (MRAE) with statins use. The main objective was to find the difference in the occurrence of MRAE of statins among geriatric and non-geriatric users.Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational comparative study in which MRAE associated with statins and relevant patient information was noted. Creatine phosphokinase (CPK) levels which are considered as a marker for statin induced muscle damage were obtained for all patients. The different parameters were compared among geriatric and non-geriatric statin users.Results: Sixty one patients, 28 geriatric (≥60 years) and 33 non-geriatric (<60 years) statin users were enrolled in this study. Ten (38%) geriatric statin users as compared to 6 (20%) non-geriatric statin users were found to have MRAE (P = 0.207). No significant difference in the occurrence of MRAE among geriatric and non-geriatric statin users was found.Conclusions: The results obtained from the present study suggest that statins are relatively safe, even in older people. There was no evidence to suggest an increased risk of MRAE in geriatric patients receiving statin therapy as compared to non- geriatric patients.
ABSTRACT
Background: The global rise in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and a wide variation in compliance to self-management of diabetes has become a challenging health care problem. Poor glycaemic control can lead to treatment failures and accelerated development of various diabetes-related complications. Our study aims to find out the compliance rate of the patients with type 2 diabetes to the prescribed medications and to find out its comparison across various socio-demographic variables. Methods: This is a cross sectional questionnaire based study that was conducted amongst patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. A total of 136 patients were included in the study and interviewed by using a pre tested, structured interview schedule which captured socio-demographic variables and Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire covering different aspects of diabetes self-management. Participants rate the extent to which each description applies to them on a four-point Likert scale. Results: Mean age of the participants was 44.53 ± 8.13. The mean duration of diabetes was 7.63 ± 6.49 years. The overall compliance score in our participants was 23.44 ± 4.17. None of the participants stated that they check their blood sugar levels regularly. Of self-care activities, 69.1% of the patients agree that they do not skip their diabetes medication. Compliance to the diabetes self-care decreased significantly with an increase in age (p<0.001) and duration of disease (p<0.01). The mean compliance score was also significantly lower among those who were illiterate (p<0.001) and unskilled workers (p=0.02). Conclusion: It can be concluded that the compliance score was not good among the participants. Significant association have been found between mean compliance scores and increasing age, illiteracy, unskilled occupation and longer duration of disease.