INTRODUCTION: Since the last century, life expectancy and the incidence of disease in the elderly have increased, especially chronic diseases. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the pharmacotherapeutic follow-up(PF) in dyslipidemic patients of a nursing home in Novo Hamburgo city, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. METHODOLOGY: This is a quantitative, observational study with a longitudinal retrospective design, evaluating 50 elderly patients who live in a nursing home (80.2 ± 7.64 years old, 32 women). We assessed the lipid profile of these patients (total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL and LDL) before and after one-year PF. The analysis was conducted through descriptive statistics and Student t test or U of Mann Whitney test for paired samples. RESULTS: 56% of the patients presented changes in lipid profile in the beginning of the study and 30% one year later, with significant improvement of the lipid profile after the monitoring. Moreover, total cholesterol levels showed a favorable decrease after a year of monitoring (206 ± 53 vs. 180 ± 43 mg/dL; P = 0.009). Most patients diagnosed with dyslipidemia were using drugs, for at least three months, to treat this pathology (statins and fibrates). The majority of these patients used them correctly. CONCLUSIONS: The patients had significant improvement in their lipid profile after one year of monitoring.
Elderly; Dyslipidemias; Drug Utilization; Pharmaceutical Monitoring
