[Drug compliance in the elderly]

In order to clarify the characteristics of elderly patients concerning their attitudes toward taking prescribed medicine, self-reported compliance with prescriptions was compared among different age groups. We performed a survey in 626 outpatients and their attending physicians in 4 of our affiliated hospitals, and analyzed self-reported compliance by the patients to the prescription and their answers to questions related to drug-taking along with the diagnoses and prescriptions reported by the physician. The number of prescribed medicine was 2.3 tablets on the average for patients younger than 40, while 5.1 tablets were prescribed for patients over 70. However, self-reported compliance was best in patients over 70 than in other age groups. Compliance was good in 76% of patients who answered that the amount of medicine was appropriate, while good compliance was lower in those who thought the prescription excessive (67%). Likewise, compliance of patients who had concerns with drug side effects or who were not feeling well under medication was lower than that of patients who felt well under medication. Prescriptions for after lunch were most liable to be forgotten than those for other times of the day. Moreover, a high percentage of elderly patients attended more than 2 departments or medical facilities, and one third of those patients did not inform the physician of the fact suggesting that they were at higher risks of overdosing and unexpected drug interaction. Furthermore, the percentage of patients who did not receive explanation from physicians was higher in the elderly thus demonstrating that elderly patients have quite different characteristics in attitude with regard to medicine from younger age group patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)