Medical Health and Medication Use in Elderly Dental Patients

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to obtain information on the medical conditions and medications used among elderly Thai dental patients and to investigate the relationship between the findings in relation to age and sex. The information regarding medical conditions and medication use was obtained from interviews of 510 dental patients aged 60 years and older. The incidence of medical conditions was 82.5%; women had a significantly higher incidence of medical conditions (86.5%) than men (76.5%). The incidence of medical conditions did not differ among the three age groups. Overall, cardiovascular disease was the leading problem (33.7%) with hypertension being the major component (26.1%). The prevalent problems were bone/joint disorders (32.4%), allergies (18.2%), diabetes mellitus (14.5%), and eye and ear problems (14.3%). In our sample, 65.5% reported taking medications, with an average of 1.5 drug groups per person. The average number of medications taken increased as age increased. Women took medications more frequently than men (70% vs. 58.5%). The four most prevalent drugs were cardiovascular agents (32%), endocrinologic drugs (14.5%), nutritional therapeutics (12.9%), and drugs acting on the musculoskeletal system (11.4%). The present study supports the findings of previous reports in that the presence of medical conditions is high in the elderly and the incidence of medication use increases with advancing age.

Trigeminal neuralgia: a retrospective study of 188 Thai cases

“…The most common concomitant diseases were hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Our previous study in elderly dental patients showed a higher prevalence of hypertension (26.1%) than the prevalence (14.9%) reported in our TN sample 25 . Katusic et al.…”

“…Our previous study in elderly dental patients showed a higher prevalence of hypertension (26.1%) than the prevalence (14.9%) reported in our TN sample. 25 Katusic et al 15 stated the only risk factors which have been clearly identified with TN are multiple sclerosis and hypertension. Recently, Teruel et al 17 studied the incidence of hypertension in their patients with TN and reported that the increased incidence of hypertension was not statistically significant.…”

Medical Profile of a Dental School Patient Population

“…The average number of drugs used in that study was reported as 1.5 per person. 7 In our study, 386 patients (37 percent) were sixty years of age or older, and the average medication used in that age group was 1.5. Table 3 shows the common medications reported by our patients in this study.…”

Topics of internal medicine for undergraduate dental education: a qualitative study

“…In one study, 65.5% of dental patients older than 60 years were taking medication (17). A third of these patients were being treated for cardiovascular diseases, and hypertension was the most prominent condition (17). This further confirms the need for including cardiovascular diseases and drug interactions in dental curriculum.…”