Relationship of polypharmacy and polypathology with falls among institutionalized elderly

Abstract

Objective: identify relationships of association between the risk of falls in institutionalized elderly people with polypharmacy and polypathy, as well as to outline the epidemiological profile of its casuistry. Method: a prospective obseracional study with 271 elderly residents in long-stay institutions in the Federal District (Brazil). The date were a actualized by inferencial statistics. Results: a monitoring of elderly confirmed the association between polypathology and falls (p: 0.0028), however, it did not follow the trend of other studies in identifying polypharmacy as a risk factor for falls (p: 0.141). Among the most prevalent comorbidities, changes in blood pressure levels (77.4%), followed by Diabetes Mellitus (27.37%), depression (17.7%) and dementia (46.8%) may be highlighted. The most identified drugs were antihypertensives (73.8%), sleep inducers (61.2%), diuretics (50.1%) and antidepressants (34.3%). Conclusion: multiple disabilities associated with chronic-degenerative diseases and the chronic use of medications may interfere with the incidence of falls, ratifying factors related to the diagnosis of risk for falls presented in the NANDA-I Taxonomy I. This contribution to the nurses’ diagnostic rationale ensures better evaluation of the elderly, ensuring a care plan focused on prevention and detection of risk conditions.