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Evaluation of health parameters, use of drugs, and alcohol intake among an elderly population in São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil
de Paula, Simone Bernardes; Mendonça, Patricia Fernanda Braga; dos Santos, Mateus Bertolini Fernandes; dos Santos, Jarbas Francisco Fernades & Marchini, Leonardo
Abstract
Aim: To evaluate health parameters (blood pressure, heart rate and blood glucose), the use of
medicines and alcohol consumption in elderly residents in the city of São José dos Campos, SP,
Brazil. Methods: A sample of 500 elderly individuals (98 men and 402 women, with mean age of
69.5 years) was examined. Personal data and medicines used by the patients were recorded,
general health aspects were assessed and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)
was applied to survey alcohol consumption. Results: Two hundred and four patients (40.8%)
presented high blood pressure and 93 patients (18.6%) had hyperglycemia. The most used
pharmacological groups were antihypertensive drugs, antilipidemics, drugs to control
hypothyroidism and hypoglycemic agents. Possible pharmacological interactions with alcohol
were present in 60.9% of the used medicines. The AUDIT results showed that 91% of the sample
presented a low-level intake of alcohol and only 1% presented characteristics of alcohol addiction.
Associations were found among AUDIT scores with age (p=0.037), since a larger number of
alcohol addicts were found among younger patients, and use of drugs (p=0.046), since patients
who consumed more daily medicines made less use of alcohol (low-level). Conclusions: The
studied sample presented a high prevalence of hypertension and relatively low incidence of
diabetes. A low use of drugs was verified and women made more use of daily medications than
men. Low alcohol consumption was also observed, and women consumed less alcohol than men.
Keywords
medicines; drugs; alcohol; elderly; general health
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