SCENARIO OF DISPENSING MEDICINES TO THE ELDERLY IN COMMUNITY PHARMACIES

Abstract

For the quality improvement of the information given to the elderly, concerning rational use of medicines, it is necessary to know the real environment in a community pharmacy. To evaluate the information provided during the dispensing of medicines to the elderly patients in community pharmacies and the degree of this group satisfaction. An observational cross-sectional study was carried out with participants in cultural activities at the University of São Paulo. The data collected were tabulated and processed by using the Minitab ® software. Most of the volunteers, males and females, were married and highly educated and  female gender was predominant. Although most participants considered the care and guidelines/information received as “good”, they were not oriented regarding posology, possible infl uence of foods, possible drug interactions or conservation conditions of the product when questioned about other  medicines in use or possible chronic diseases. Thus, actions are necessary to improve the quality of these services for the population according to Resolução da Diretoria Colegiada n. 44/2009 (RDC).