Screening tests for intended medication adherence among the elderly.

Area of Science:

• Geriatric Medicine
• Health Outcomes Research
• Patient Adherence Studies

Background:

• Medication nonadherence leads to preventable adverse events, hospitalizations, and poor health outcomes in the elderly.
• Assessing medication adherence in seniors is vital but time-consuming for patients and healthcare providers.
• Identifying efficient screening tools is essential for primary care and community pharmacy settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and evaluate screening tools for predicting elderly patients' intended medication adherence.
• The focus is on tools suitable for primary care and community pharmacy implementation.
• To determine predictors of intended medication adherence in older adults.

Main Methods:

• Evaluated 57 English-speaking individuals aged 65+ from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Quantified intended medication adherence and analyzed relationships with demographic, medical, socioeconomic, and literacy variables.
• Utilized multivariate analysis with the MedTake Test as the dependent variable.

Main Results:

• Age, car ownership, food assistance receipt, number of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, and REALM scores predicted intended adherence.
• The Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) word-recognition pronunciation test was the strongest predictor (beta = 0.666, R2 = 0.271, p < 0.001).
• Multivariate analysis identified key demographic and literacy factors influencing adherence intent.

Conclusions:

• The REALM test, age, OTC drug count, and two socioeconomic questions predict seniors' intent to adhere to oral medications.
• Literacy, as measured by REALM, is a significant factor in medication adherence prediction.
• These findings support the use of specific screening questions and literacy tests in clinical practice to assess adherence intent.