The maladies of Self-Medication in the elderly

Abstract

Population aging has been occurring in developing countries as a consequence of increased life expectancy, reduced fertility and child mortality, with the result that by 2020 the elderly population will account for around 13% of the population. Methodology: This is a bibliographic survey to evaluate the maladies of self-medication in the elderly group. A bibliographic survey of online journals from 1998 to 2017 was carried out in Google Scholar, Scielo and Brazilian / International Magazines, 87 articles were selected, 29 were selected after reading and from a deductive approach, all of them were compiled information. Result: The third age group is the most medicated group in society, with an average of 2 to 5 drugs prescribed simultaneously, due to the involvement of more than one organ or system. Conclusion: Knowing that self-medication involves culture and will hardly be abandoned, the most viable path is to look at its positive aspects and seek to maximize them, so that all countries, free from their degree of development, must join means to guarantee the use rational use of medicines, the pharmacist being the professional indispensable to attend to the needs of individuals and society.