Senile dementia and pharmacological drugs

Side effects and drug interactions are common in the elderly and highly relevant in the demented, being routinely confused with symptoms of cognitive impairment. Which drugs are most consumed by this patient group? Do prescription patterns differ between the demented and non-demented? OBJECTIVE: To define drug consumption quantitatively and qualitatively in demented (D) and non-demented (ND) elderly. METHODS: Patients were divided into men and women, by age group (<80 and ≥80 years), non-demented and demented status, and consumers of ≤3 or >3 drugs. As a criterion comparing groups, the Chi-square (Fisher's exact) test was employed. This study is part of Project No. 405/10 approved by the Ethics Committee of the institution. RESULTS: The sample had a mean age of 81.5±8.8 years, 29 D (21 women and 8 men) and 21 ND (16 women and 5 men), 12 consumers of up to three drugs (7 D and 5 ND) and 38 consumers of 3 medications or more (22 D and 16 ND). The most used drugs among dementia patients were aspirin, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, statins, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and vitamins. Drugs most consumed by non-demented included vitamins, aspirin, calcium carbonate, proton pump inhibitors, statins and alendronate sodium. There was no statistical significance on any of the comparisons, although the number of elderly consumers of vitamins in the ND had a p-value of 0.06 (Yates). CONCLUSION: The elderly in this series, regardless of dementia status, gender or age group, had similar drug consumption patterns and used multiple drugs simultaneously.