Medication management by recently hospitalized older adults

Community-dwelling older adults often manage numerous prescriptive medications. The purpose of this study was to describe prescriptive medication management by older adults recently discharged from hospitals. The sample (N = 179) included adults, 65 to 101 years old, who managed a total of 950 prescriptive medications. Overall, subjects reported high confidence in their ability to manage medications. The lowest confidence levels were reported for recognizing unwanted side effects of medications. Although "forgetting" was the most commonly given reason for missed doses, one fourth of the reasons for missed doses indicated deliberate omission. Almost half of the subjects received assistance from others with their medications; most of the assistance served to counteract the tendency to forget medication doses. The results of this study provide a research-based foundation for community health nursing efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of older adults' medication self-care behaviors.