Prevalence and factors associated with simvastatin use by institutionalized elderly

Abstract

Objective: to verify the prevalence and factors associated with the use of simvastatin by institutionalized elderly. Method: cross-sectional research with 468 institutionalized elderly in Rio Grande do Sul, carried out in 2017. To assess the association between simvastatin use and categorical independent variables, Pearson's Chi-square test and Regression were applied of Poisson with robust variance. In the multiple model, variables that had a value of p<0.20 in the bivariate analysis were considered and those with p<0.05 remained in the model. Results and discussion: it was found that the prevalence of simvastatin use by institutionalized elderly was 35.3%, associated with having a history of stroke, diabetes mellitus, polypharmacy and being non-white. Conclusion: the results may be useful to promote the rational use of simvastatin in institutionalized elderly, through the work of the multidisciplinary team.