Assessment of Comorbidity and Use of Prescription and NonprescriptionDrugs in Patients Above 65 Years Attending Family Medicine OutpatientClinics

摘要

>Background and aim: Aging is often accompanied by chronic diseases, comorbidity, and polypharmacy. Use of prescriptiononprescription drugs, and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs seen frequently in the elderly. The aim of this study was to assess the comorbidity and multimorbidity status and to evaluate the use of prescription and nonprescription drugs in patients aged 65 years. >Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional and descriptive study, statistical analyses were performed using SPSS Version 22.0. Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests were applied based on meeting the assumption of a normal distribution of the data. Other statistical tests used were one-way analysis of variance tests, t tests, Pearson correlation analysis, Chi-square tests, Mann–Whitney U tests, and Spearman correlation analysis. >Results: A total of 244 people participated in the study. The multimorbidity rate was 85%. Participants used an average of 4.26 drugs daily. The polypharmacy ratio was 42%. The nonprescription drug usage rate was 20%. Participants used nonprescription drugs most often with the pharmacist’s advice. >Conclusion: Multimorbidity, comorbidity, prescription, and nonprescription drug use were very high among elderlypatients. Because older people are more susceptible to adverse drug reactionsand drug interactions, physicians who provide care to older people should take acomprehensive drug history.