SELF-REPORTED CHRONIC ILLNESSES AND USE OF PRESCRIPTION MEDICINES (PM) AMONG ELDERLY MALAYS- A COMMUNITY BASED STUDY

This study explored self-reported chronic illnesses and use of prescription medicines (PM) by elderly Malays in the community. The study was a population based cross sectional study conducted among 490 Malay subjects aged ≥ 60 years in the semi-urban and rural areas in Perak, Malaysia. The study was conducted using pre-validated questionnaires after getting informed consent from the study participants. Critically ill and subjects with cognitive impairment were excluded from the study. The mean age of the elderly respondents was 69.7 years and 68.4% of the elderly were females. Respondents belonging to the age group 60-69 years constituted the largest group (54.5%). The most common illness reported was hypertension (59.8%) followed by hypercholesterolemia (42.7%) and diabetes mellitus (32.2%).  Other chronic illnesses were osteoarthritis (6.3%), bronchial asthma (4.1%), other cardiovascular diseases (2.2%) and other diseases (19.2%).  52.9% of elderly study subjects had multiple illnesses. 76.7% used at least one prescription medication. The highest users of PM were aged between 70-79 years, while the lowest users of PM were ≥ 80 years old (p<0.05). Female elderly used more medication (79.4%) compared to males (71%) and it was statistically significant. Urban elderly used more PM (79.1%) which was significantly different from their rural counterparts (67%). Anti-hypertensive drugs were the most commonly used medication (59.4%) followed by anti-cholesterol drugs (41.4%), anti-diabetics (30.2%), anti-osteoarthritis drugs (4.3%) and anti-asthma drugs (2.9%).