Objective:

to describe the drugs used and analyze the factors associated with polypharmacy in the elderly, in Aiquara, Bahia, Brazil.

Methods:

this is a census cross-sectional study, conducted in February 2014, through an interview using standardized form.

Results:

among the 272 elderly respondents, 53.3% used only prescribed medication and 31.6% used at least one medication not prescribed; the prevalence of polypharmacy was 29.0%; cardiovascular drugs were the most used in polypharmacy (n=390; 37.6%); after adjusted analysis, the factors that remained associated with polypharmacy were female sex (OR=2.20 - 95%CI 1.11;4.35), private health insurance (OR=2.18 - 95%CI 1.05;4.55), hospitalization in the previous year (OR=2.34 - 95%CI 1.18;4.65) and having four or more self-reported diseases (OR=3.18 - 95%CI 1.60;6.29).

Conclusion:

there was a high prevalence of polypharmacy, associated with sex, private health insurance, having four or more self-reported diseases and hospitalization in the previous year, with higher use of cardiovascular drugs.

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