Knowledge And Practices Used By Old Age Patients To Control Polypharmacy

Aboudonya, Mohamed Elsayed; Badr Elden, Soheir Ali; Hassan, Hanan Elzeblawy; Hafez, Sameer Hamdy

doi:10.21608/niles.2022.197281

Knowledge And Practices Used By Old Age Patients To Control Polypharmacy

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Nursing science teaching specialist in Technical Health Institute of Imbaba, Egypt

² Professor of community health nursing Faculty of nursing – Cairo University, Egypt

³ Assistant Professor of Maternal and New-Born Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Beni-Suef University, Egypt

⁴ Lecturer of community health nursing -Faculty of nursing – Beni-Suef University, Egypt

10.21608/niles.2022.197281

Abstract

Background: Older people now constitute more than 60% of the world’s population. The elderly population suffers from chronic diseases and multimorbidity and is treated with an increasing number of drugs that result inPolypharmacy. Polypharmacy was defined as per a systematic review conducted in 2017 as the concurrent use of five or more different prescription medications. Aim: This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge regarding Polypharmacy among older patients and assess the alternative practices used by old-age patients to control Polypharmacy. Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used. Subjects & Setting: The sample size was 114 elderly patients selected from outpatient clinics monthly. Tools: (1) Questionnaire to assess geriatric patient's Polypharmacy’s knowledge, (2) Checklist to assess poly pharmacy’s alternative practices. Results: two-thirds of the study sample (66.7%) took medication based on their previous experience. More than half of the study sample (57%) depended on the pharmacist's prescription, and about half of the sample referred to friends 'advice.
In comparison, nearly half of the study sample (44.7%) took medication based on the experience of a family member (32.5 %) were aware of the meaning of Polypharmacy. In comparison (23.7%) were aware of the Polypharmacy contributing factors. Conclusion: The study concluded that; the prevalence of Polypharmacy and its consequencesamong the elderly are significantly related to the level of education. Recommendations: designing an educational program for the elderly, aiming to increase their awareness and knowledge and maintain a healthy lifestyle; Activating the role of health educators during inpatient discharge and within outpatient services to promote the use of non-drug methods.

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