Patterns of drug consumption in relation with the pathologies of elderly Mexican subjects resident in nursing homes

Purpose: To describe the patterns of drugs consumed by the male and female elderly living in Mexican private and public nursing homes. Methods: Three hundred and fifty elderly participants from four nursing homes (2 private a nd 2 public) were selected for the six month study: 108 subjects were exclu ded; the remaining 242 were between 65 and 100 years old; 123 were females and 119 males. A complete clinical history was taken and clinical files wer e reviewed. Results: Of the 242 elderly studied, 193 took diverse medicatio ns and 28.5% were at risk of some type of drug interaction. The groups of d rugs more frequently consumed were vitamins and anti-anemic medications, fo llowed by cardiovascular drugs. Females consumed greater number of drugs. T hey also consumed more drugs simultaneously. Conclusions: There is a need t o monitor the elderly for their drugs pattern use.