Objective: Determine prescription characteristics of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs among the elderly attending primary medical care.
Material and methods: Setting, Family Health Unit 52, Mexican Institute of Social Security.
Design: Prospective, cross-sectional, descriptive, with randomized sampling.
Participants: 400 patients; aged 60 and older, male and female, without cognitive impairment. Those without clinical records were excluded. Every patient was interviewed and examined and their clinical record and prescription were assesed.
Results: NSAIDs were prescribed in 312 patients (78% 95% CI 74-82), one type of NSAIDs was prescribed in 188 (60% 95% CI 55-65), two types in 117 (38% 95% CI 33-43) and three types in 7 (2% 95% CI 0.0-4). Of the 443 prescriptions, Acetylsalicylic acid was prescribed in 200 cases (45% 95% CI 40-50) and Naproxen in 100 (23% IC 95% 19-26). Reasons for prescribing included cardiovascularprophylaxis in 46% (IC 95% 7-13)pain management in 40% (95% CI 31-49), anti-inflammatory cases 4% (95% CI 2-6), and non-specified in 10% of cases (95% CI 7-13). Treatment duration was not specified for 253 patients (81% 95% CI 77-85). We noted drug-drug interaction in 228 cases (73% 95% CI 67-77) and a potential drug-disease interaction in 247 (79% 95% CI 77-81). The gastro-esophageal prescription was not more frequent among patients taking NSAIDs compared with non-users OR = 1 (95% CI 0.53-1.75; p = 0.89).
Conclusions: NSAIDs prescription prevalence is high: although diagnoses do not justify their use and gastro-esophageal protection is often not sufficient. Prostaglandins inhibitors are favored without taking into account drug-disease interaction.