Medication Status of Elder People in Community / 中国药房

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To probe into the medication status of the elder patients in community so as to provide reference for pharmacists to promote rational medication for the elderly people in community. METHODS: The medication status of 484 cases in the community was investigated through questionnaire and interview. RESULTS: The principal diseases affecting the health of the elder people included hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease. The average number of drugs they used totaled 2.92 kinds; the higher the educational background, the higher proportion of the elder people who read drug package instruction but the lower ratio of medication compliance. The elder people commonly had poor knowledge about the drugs and adverse drug reactions(91.74% and 60.74%);21.11% responded that they had ever received medication guidance from pharmacists, only 3.10% responded that they had once consulted pharmacists about medication problems. CONCLUSION: The medication of the elder people in community is characterized by multiple drug varieties, poor ADR knowledge and lower cognition on pharmacists. It is urgent to improve the pharmaceutical care ability of medical institution and enhance the social influence of pharmacists.