Polypharmacy among the elderly in the city of São Paulo, Brazil - SABE Study

Polypharmacy for the elderly and associated factors were assessed. A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the SABE Study (Health, Well-being and Aging), 2006. 1,115 individuals representing 422,377 elderly aged 65 or more, living in São Paulo City, were interviewed. Polypharmacy was defined as the use of five or more medications. A multivariate regression logistics was used. Polypharmacy prevalence was 36%. Female (OR = 1.7; IC 95%: 1.0; 2.9), age over 75 years (OR = 1.9; CI 95%: 1.3; 2.7), higher income (OR = 1.8; CI 95%: 1.2; 2.8), working (OR = 1.8; CI 95%: 1.1; 2.9), regular self assessed health (OR = 1.6; CI 95%: 1.1; 2.3) or poor (OR = 2.6; CI 95%: 1.4; 4.9), hypertension (OR = 2.0; CI 95%: 1.4; 2.9), diabetes (OR = 4.1; CI 95%: 2.2; 7.5), rheumatic diseases (OR = 2.3; CI 95%: 1.5; 3.6) and cardiac problems (OR = 2.9; CI 95%: 1.9; 4.5) were associated positively with polypharmacy. Using only the public health system (OR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.3; 0.7) was inversely associated with polypharmacy. Medicines for the cardiovascular system and for the alimentary tract and metabolism were the most used. The knowledge of factors associated with polypharmacy, such as those identified in this study, may be useful to alert health professionals about the importance of identifying and monitoring the elderly groups most vulnerable to polypharmacy.