Determination of knowledge and practices of medication use of elderly patients hospitalized at surgical units

Abstract

Introduction: A descriptive research was conducted for determination of knowledge and practices of medication use of elderly patients hospitalized in surgical clinics. The sample consisted of 128 patients over the age of 60 who were hospitalized at a university hospital with Neurosurgery, General Surgery, Thoraco/Cardio/Vascular Surgery and Urology departments. Materials and Method: For data collection, a questionnaire prepared by the researcher based on the literature was used. The data was collected by the researcher at two stages with face-to-face and telephone interviews by using the questionnaire. For evaluation of the data, percentage calculations and McNemar and Cohran Q tests were used. Results: We determined that elderly patients in surgical clinics did not take their medication in accordance with principles of rational drug use and elderly patients' knowledge of medication use was inadequate althought they demand information on use of medications from health officers, especially physicians. Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, it is suggested that nurses and all the other members of the medication team should educate elderly patients on rational drug use and further efforts should be made to improve nurses' awareness about rational drug use.