Home pharmacological therapy in an ultra-75 years old population in Troina (inner Sicily)

In a group of 365 subjects, 75 years old and ultra, living in Troina (Sicily), a study on prevalence of dementia has been carried out. In the questionnaire, used to collect information about subjects' health, one of the questions concerned the assumption of drugs. The interviewer transcribed the name of the drugs and then coded the related chemical-pharmacological classification, according to the 14 principal groups of the guide of the National Health Service. Up to 9 drugs, on a daily basis, were registered. The total amount of prescriptions was 889, equal to 2.4 per person, with a clear prevalence of the females. 26.1% of the sample did not take any drug. The mode of assumptions was 3 a day. The cardiovascular system is at the top of prescriptions, with 39% of the total, followed by the gastroenteric apparatus and metabolism (17.9%), the nervous system (16.7%), the haemopoietic system (8.4%), the musculo-skeletal system (6.2%), the respiratory apparatus (5.7%), and so on the others. For each principal group of drugs, those more represented are identified, obtaining other information about the practitioners' choices. Among the principal subgroups of cardiovascular system, it is worth mentioning anti-hypertensives, diuretics and antianginal, each of them with their own subgroups. In the gastroenteric apparatus and metabolism group, the latter comprises the drugs for the treatment of diabetes: oral hypoglicaemics and insulin. These drugs allow to identify 34 cases of diabetes: 29 NIDD and 5 IDD. Analogous evaluations for drugs of other groups and comparisons with a few data available in literature are carried out. Surveying the drugs used in a population is useful: (i) to evaluate the health state; (ii) to identify the dominant disease; (iii) to draw comparisons with other populations; (iiii) to follow the evolution of pharmacotherapy.