OBJECTIVE: For purposes of the present study of people over 65 attending a particular Health Centre, we aimed to discover and inter-relate their morbidity due to chronic illnesses, their frequency of attendance, and the total average outlay of drugs on them. DESIGN: Descriptive crossover study. Information on the clinical histories was gathered over a one-year period (July 1990 to June '91). SITE. Within the Primary Care framework: at the Vite Health Centre in Santiago de Compostela. PATIENTS OR OTHERS PARTICIPANTS: The population aged 65 or over and with medical records in the said centre. A representative sample of this population (n = 240), obtained by systematic sampling, was worked with. MAIN RESULTS: The sample's average age was 73.6 +/- 6.7 years. Arterial Hypertension (AHT) was the most common chronic illness. AHT, LCFA/Asthma, Hyperlipemia and digestive pathology showed significant differences between men and women. The average number of medical consultations per person per year was 11.5 +/- 0.82, with no significant differences as to sex and age. The average outlay per person per year was 27,610 pesetas +/- 38,688, with an average cost per consultation of 2,750 pesetas +/- 5,158.7. The chronic illnesses that produced a higher average total cost were heart diseases. Significant differences were shown between the number of chronic illnesses and the average total cost. CONCLUSIONS: The presence, number and nature of chronic illnesses are the factors affecting higher outlay in medication.
OBJECTIVE: For purposes of the present study of people over 65 attending a particular Health Centre, we aimed to discover and inter-relate their morbidity due to chronic illnesses, their frequency of attendance, and the total average outlay of drugs on them. DESIGN: Descriptive crossover study. Information on the clinical histories was gathered over a one-year period (July 1990 to June '91). SITE. Within the Primary Care framework: at the Vite Health Centre in Santiago de Compostela. PATIENTS OR OTHERS PARTICIPANTS: The population aged 65 or over and with medical records in the said centre. A representative sample of this population (n = 240), obtained by systematic sampling, was worked with. MAIN RESULTS: The sample's average age was 73.6 +/- 6.7 years. Arterial Hypertension (AHT) was the most common chronic illness. AHT, LCFA/Asthma, Hyperlipemia and digestive pathology showed significant differences between men and women. The average number of medical consultations per person per year was 11.5 +/- 0.82, with no significant differences as to sex and age. The average outlay per person per year was 27,610 pesetas +/- 38,688, with an average cost per consultation of 2,750 pesetas +/- 5,158.7. The chronic illnesses that produced a higher average total cost were heart diseases. Significant differences were shown between the number of chronic illnesses and the average total cost. CONCLUSIONS: The presence, number and nature of chronic illnesses are the factors affecting higher outlay in medication.