PATHOLOGIES OF THE ELDERLY AND PHARMACOTHERAPY IN THE HEALTH AREA OF BIWONG-BANE, SOUTH CAMEROON
Authors: Edo’o Vanina Doris , Essomba Thérèse Mbezele , Essomba Marie Josiane Ntsama , Kabir Haamit Mahammat Abba , Essi Emmanuel Nnanga Nga , Essi Marie-José 
Published: May 2021

Objectives: The specific characteristics of the elderly physiopathology, such as polypathology and polypharmacy, arouse interest in the quality of the care offered to this age group. The study aimed to analyse the gap between the pathological and therapeutic profiles at the local level in Cameroon.
Method: This was a six-month cross-sectional situational analysis at the Biwong-Bane District Medical Centre in the South region of Cameroon. Pathological data were collected from the consultation register, and those related to therapeutics were taken from the drug inventory lists for the period of July 2019 to July 2020, using two separate reading grids. The 20th version of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software was used for the analysis of the data set.
Results: For a total of 103 patient files, the mean age was 68.6±7.7 years with a sex ratio of 0.75. 21.7% of the population was aged ≥ 75 years. The main pathology groups were infectious diseases (40%) and diseases of the osteoarticular system (16.4%). Out the 140 occurrences counted, malaria, typhoid fever and high blood pressure were the most common at 26, 12 and 7 respectively. Polypathologies represented 28.2% of the sample. With regard to therapeutics, there was a concordance between prescriptions and available drugs, although stock-outs persisted, as with artesunate (10 months) and mineral supplements (6 months). Finally, the average number of active molecules administered per elderly person ≥75 years was 3.47.
Conclusion: The pharmacotherapy provided to the Third age remains poorly adapted, mainly due to the unavailability of drugs specific to the needs of this population.

Peer Review History:
Received 22 March 2021; Revised 16 April; Accepted 26 April, Available online 15 May 2021
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Received file: Reviewer's Comments:
Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 6.0/10
Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 7.0/10
Reviewer(s) detail:
Dr. Omid Gholami,
Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Iran, omidghphd@gmail.com
Dr. DANIYAN Oluwatoyin Michael,
Obafemi Awolowo University, ILE-IFE, Nigeria, toyinpharm@gmail.com