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: prevalence and association with drug use.
C Cornelius1, J Fastbom, C B Claesson
1Stockholm Gerontology Research Centre & Department of Geriatric Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Clinical Drug Investigation
|January 1, 1997
Summary
This study examined symptoms and medication use in elderly individuals. Pain and tiredness were common, with some drug use potentially indicating inappropriate treatment or dosage.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Clinical Pharmacology
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Prevalence of self-reported symptoms and medication use is high in elderly populations.
- Understanding symptom-drug associations is crucial for optimizing geriatric pharmacotherapy.
- The Kungsholmen Project provides a robust dataset for studying health in older adults.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the prevalence of self-reported symptoms in elderly individuals.
- To determine the association between these symptoms and medicinal drug use.
- To identify potential instances of inappropriate treatment or dosage in this demographic.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study design utilizing data from the Kungsholmen Project.
- Inclusion of 1800 participants aged 75 years and over in Stockholm, Sweden.
- Data collection through interviews covering 22 different symptoms and actual drug use, analyzed via logistic regression.
Main Results:
- Pain and tiredness were the most frequently reported symptoms.
- Symptoms were generally more prevalent in women and older age groups.
- While many symptom-drug associations aligned with established treatments, some, like tiredness with anxiolytics/hypnotics, suggested potential issues.
Conclusions:
- Self-reported symptoms are common in the elderly, particularly pain and tiredness.
- Associations between symptoms and drug use highlight both effective treatments and potential areas for concern.
- Further investigation into specific drug-symptom relationships is warranted to ensure appropriate geriatric pharmacotherapy.
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