Lack of access to medications for hypertension and diabetes mellitus among aged from 2017 to 2019 in Brazil

Abstract

Objective: to identify sociodemographic and regional differences in the lack of access of aged Brazilians to medicines for hypertension and/or diabetes mellitus in the last 30 days, in the years 2017, 2018 and 2019, based on data from the Telephone-based Surveillance of Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases (VIGITEL).
Methods: a population-based transversal study using data from VIGITEL. Were eligible the elderly (≥60 years) who answered affirmatively to the questions “In the past 30 days, did you have been without any hypertension medications for some time?”, “In the past 30 days did you have been without any high to control diabetes for some time?”, and “In the past 30 days, did you ran out of insulin?” Chi-squared test was used to describe the prevalence of the outcome in accordance with the independent variables, and ajusted Poisson Regression was used to estimate the prevalence ratio and respective 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).
Results: the prevalence of the outcome was 11.8% in 2017, 11.4% in 2018, and 11.2% in 2019. A higher prevalence of lack of access to medications for hypertension and diabetes mellitus was observed among elderly people of black/brown/yellow/ indigenous skin color, less educated, beneficiaries of Bolsa Família, without private health plan and living in the Northeast and North regions.
Conclusion: there was a small reduction in the lack of access to medication for hypertension and diabetes between 2017 and 2019. Furthermore, the results reveal inequality in access to these medicines.