Uso racional de medicamentos entre indivíduos com diabetes mellitus e hipertensão arterial no município do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Résumé 0

"This study focuses on the rational use of medicines (RUM) by hypertensive and/or diabet- ic patients treated in primary health care units in the city of Rio de Janeiro. It involves a cross-sec- tional study conducted between January and Feb- ruary 2010. Indicators were created considering the following aspects: adherence to prescribed med- icine, self-medication and how patients store med- icines within their households. Univariate and multivariate data analysis was performed. Of the 547 patients studied, 77.5% reported that they usually take the entire course of medicines and 80.3% reported that they tend not to forget to take them. Almost all respondents reported that they only take medications prescribed by authorized health professionals. Half of the patients had no expired medicines or damaged medicine packages in the home. Statistical tests revealed that RUM is higher among hypertensive individuals who are married and working, who mention receiving medical guidance about diet and physical exer- cise, and who have not missed any scheduled med- ical appointments at the primary health care unit within the 6 months before this research was con- ducted. The findings emphasize the importance of primary health care in promoting the rational use of medicines."