Self-medication in the Elderly. Consultorio Médico de La Familia # 15, Jesús Menéndez, Cuba. 2018

Abstract

Introduction: The practice of self-medication constitutes health risks, mainly for the elderly due to the changes typical of aging that exist in this stage of life. Objective: To determine the behavior of self-medication in the elderly of the Family Medical Office (CMF) # 15 of the municipality of Jesús Menéndez, in the 1st semester of 2018. Methodology: A quantitative, descriptive study was carried out. The population was 359 older adults, the sample being made up of 151 patients, using the sample calculation formula to obtain it. The interview was used as a data collection technique, studying the following variables: conditions for which they self-medicate, non-prescription drug groups that consume the most, sex with the highest incidence. Results: Osteomyoarticular pain is the main condition for which they consume drugs without a medical prescription with 66.2%. 100% of the geronts consume NSAID-type medications without a doctor's prescription for the relief of present pain; the female sex has a higher incidence represented by 53.6% Conclusions: It is concluded that there is a practice of self-medication in this population group, pain in the osteomyoarticular system being the main condition that induces them to consume medications without a medical prescription. It was detected that the drugs with the highest self-medicated consumption are those belonging to the drug group known as NSAIDs and that the female sex has a higher incidence in the consumption of self-medicated medication.