Assistência farmacêutica em instituição de longa permanência para idosos

Abstract

To evaluate the Pharmaceutical Services process in nursing homes we conducted a cross-sectional observational study. The sample was selected by convenience, with all elderly residents who were using drugs. The research began only after the project approval by the PUCRS Ethics Committee in Research, number 10/05111. Data collection was performed between August 2010 and April 2011 and consisted of questions about residents' health, drugs used and their satisfaction with pharmaceutical care, as well as medicine products storage. Data was collected by reviewing nursing home medical records, medicine purchase receipts and interviews with residents and nursing homes professionals and observation of the researcher. For the satisfaction was considered the minimum level score 05 points and 25 points for the highest degree, from the responses of the specific questionnaire applied to the elderly. In the collection period, 113 of the elderly residing in ILPI only two were iv excluded because they were not on use any medications. The average residence time of 111 elderly was 6.3 ± 7.5. Most (74.1%) was composed of women, the mean age was 81.5 ± 7.7 years. The average consumption of drugs was 5.2 ± 2.33. According to the Beers criteria, 27 (24.3%) prescriptions contained inappropriate drugs and 51 (45.9%) at least one drug without problem described in the medical records to justify its use. In 40 (36%) prescriptions were observed 99 drug interactions. Those classified as moderate severity were the most frequent (64.9%), followed by gravity high (22.9%). These frequencies were elevated compared with other studies in nursing homes in Brazil and abroad, especially those of greater severity. The storage conditions of medications were far from desirable, where most of the expected quality criteria were not met. The drugs were in a high humidity location, in the presence of mold, many in boxes placed in direct contact with the ground, and without any control records. A wide range of problems concerning all the processes related to the pharmaceutical care was observed, from the purchase to the final use by the elderly. The average satisfaction with pharmaceutical care among women (18.5 ± 2.02) and men (18.93 ± 2.37) was similar, indicating that gender did not influence the degree of satisfaction with care (p = 0.573). The linear regression of satisfaction and age showed a positive relationship in which older residents had higher levels of satisfaction, although this relationship was not significant (p = 0.558). During the period of one year were purchased by the institution 107 different types of drugs, among which 22 (20.6%) could have been accessed for free Health System or the Popular Pharmacy of Brazil program, which equates to a saving of R $ 7,721.52 (29.4%) for the institution. In detailing many problems observed in this study and the complexity of the pharmaceutical services process, whether related to the purchase, access, storage, distribution and use, was identified the need for inclusion of the pharmacist in nursing homes teams working in Brazil. As has been occurring in foreign countries, the presence of a pharmacist generates positive impacts both nursing homes and their elderly residents, and consequently to the health system.