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Background: potentially inappropriate prescribing (IP) includes the use of drugs that represent greater risk than benefi t to the patient, the STOPP-START instrument, allows its detection, the aim was to evaluate its utility. Methods: a descriptive cross-sectional study was performed. Randomly selecting records of older adults with at least one chronic degenerative disease, as last query had more than two months and have completed their monthly meeting at least four citations in the last 6 months were analyzed. Results: the fi les from 285 patients were reviewed, females were 60 %, and the mean age was 74 ± 6 years. A total of 1749 prescriptions included 126 different drugs. The prevalence of inappropriate prescribing was 55 % (95 % CI = 49-61) and 87 % polypharmacy (95 % CI = 83-91). The cardiovascular, endocrine and skeletal muscle system diseases had the highest number of prescriptions and inappropriate prescribing. It was detected the omission of one or more drugs listed in 72 % of 75 % specific clinical circumstances. Conclusions: the STOPP-START instrument is useful for detecting inappropriate prescribing. Also, the omission of indicated preventive treatments required for older adults with chronic degenerative diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of prescribing a medication is complex and includes: deciding whether it is indicated, choosing the best option, determining the dose and the appropriate management scheme to the physiological condition of the patient, and monitoring effectiveness and toxicity. We have to inform patients about the expected side effects and indications for requesting a consultation. Specific clinical questions were designed based on the acronym PICOST. The search was made in the specific websites of clinical practice guidelines, was limited to the population of older adults, in English or Spanish. We used 10 related clinical practice guidelines, eight systematic reviews and five meta-analyses. Finally, we made a search of original articles or clinical reviews for specific topics. The development and validation of clinical practice guidelines for "rational drug prescriptions in the elderly" is intended to promote an improvement in the quality of prescription through the prevention and detection of inappropriate prescribing in the elderly and, as a result of this, a decrease in the adverse events by drugs, deterioration of health of patients and expenditure of resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Medica del IMSS is the property of Direccion de Prestaciones Medicas - IMSS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Medica del IMSS is the property of Direccion de Prestaciones Medicas - IMSS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The advance in the knowledge and technology is growing quickly and greater quantity, so it is difficult for the health professional to access to whole information that is generated every day on diagnostic and therapeutic strategies more effective, so the clinic practice guidelines (CPG) is a resource to support the updating of the health professional and support them in making clinical decisions. The CPG is also a better support to the manager of health services in making decisions regarding the strategies that have performed for the patient and less risk to the individual and collective health. They also support the response capacity of the medical units and hospitals and guide the planning of services to the optimization of the resources. This paper summarizes the methodology of a national project for the development of GPC coordinated by the Mexican Social Security Institute with the collaboration of more than 1200 health professionals of the institution in a great effort institutional update and make information accessible to the entire health sector, which also defines the steps to upgrade and maintain the updating of knowledge and technology expressed in them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Medica del IMSS is the property of Direccion de Prestaciones Medicas - IMSS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objectives: To ascertain the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in elderly people attending to family medicine clinics. Material and methods: the study was conducted by using a prospective design in which participants were randomly selected from a family medicine clinic located in Mexico City. The study was run from August to September 2003, and included patients aged sixty years or older, regardless of gender. They should not have cognitive damage, which was ascertained by the Folstein Mini Mental State Examination. Those patients that did not accept to participate and those having incomplete or illegible medical records were excluded. The socio-demographic characteristics test and Carlsson-Dent test were applied. The information about diagnosis, drugs prescriptions, and pharmacological and no pharmacological gastroesophageal protection was obtained from the medical charts and prescriptions. Results: 400 elderly patients were evaluated by using the Carlsson-Dent test. GERD prevalence was 25% (IC 95 % 21-29) the average age of patients with and without GERD was 68 ± 7 years and 70 ± 7 years respectively (p = .002). Women suffered GERD more frequently than men (p = 0.001). GERD diagnosis was not found in any of the reviewed medical charts. Antacids, histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2 As) and were prescribed in 39% (IC 95 % 34-44) of patients with GERD and in 18% (IC 95 % 15-21) without GERD. Conclusions: Elderly patients attending to primary care facilities often have GERD symptoms, but they are not properly diagnosed or followed up. The Carlsson-Dent questionnaire is an alternative to identify GERD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Medica del IMSS is the property of Direccion de Prestaciones Medicas - IMSS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Medica del IMSS is the property of Direccion de Prestaciones Medicas - IMSS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)