| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立雲林科技大學 === 工業工程與管理系 === 103 === Due to the phenomenon of aging, the elderly do not possess the same physiological health as the young. Regarding drug use, pharmacists will have to pay more attention to their interaction with the elderly in order to prevent incorrect or negligent drug use as these behaviors can lead to adverse reactions. The aim of this study was to understand safe medication usage and the difficulties in engaging in this behavior among the elderly. The aim was also to determine good drug counseling and medication to increase patient’s safety and enhance the pharmacists’ professional competence.
The subjects were 65 years old or older and living in Yunlin. There were 243 participants, and they received monthly visits from May to October in 2013; in other words, there were a total of six visits. Pharmaceutical Affairs personnel visited and filled in the patients’ medication records. Berers criteria was utilized to assess the appropriateness of medication used. Data were analyzed by means of a logistic regression analysis of the relevant variables using the SPSS version 19 statistical software package for analysis.
The results showed the average elderly person suffering from 3.02 ± 1.34 diseases and taking 6.7 kinds of drugs. Also, improper use of medication was prevalent in 88.5% of cases and led to a number of diseases and also to use of further medication. The prevalence of age stratification "potentially inappropriate medication ' had little effect to 65 elderly.
Results of this study suggests pharmacists need to constantly undergo self-training and participate in continuing education programs to enhance their knowledge about the use of medication among elderly patients and to learn how to integrate or simplify pharmaceutical items. These efforts will reduce the risk of wrong usage of drugs among the elderly and enhance the capacity and quality of pharmaceutical care. By providing personnel specific advice and solutions to enhance the level and quality of the care they provide to the elderly, we can look forward to safer usage of medications.
Keywords: the elderly, medication appropriateness, Beers criteria, potentially inappropriate usage of medication
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