Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026
10:19
Getting to Compliance in Forced Exercise in Rodents: A Critical Standard to Evaluate Exercise Impact in Aging-related Disorders and Disease
Published on: August 22, 2014
[Drug compliance in the elderly: determinants and support]
M-P Schneider1, J-F Locca, O Bugnon
1Policlinique médicale universitaire 1011 Lausanne. Marie-Paule.Schneider@hospvd.ch
Revue Medicale Suisse
|April 7, 2006
Summary
Promoting medication adherence in elderly patients requires addressing individual barriers and involving them in treatment decisions. A multidisciplinary healthcare team approach is crucial for successful drug adherence strategies.
Area of Science:
- Geriatric medicine
- Pharmacology
- Health psychology
Context:
- Elderly patients often manage multiple medications (polypharmacy), increasing the risk of non-adherence.
- Numerous barriers, including patient beliefs and functional limitations, impede consistent medication adherence.
- Effective adherence strategies are essential for managing chronic conditions in older adults.
Purpose:
- To highlight the importance of promoting drug adherence in elderly patients on multiple medications.
- To identify key barriers to medication adherence in this demographic.
- To propose a comprehensive, patient-centered, and multidisciplinary approach to improve adherence.
Summary:
- Addressing individual patient beliefs, life expectations, and treatment understanding is vital.
- Proactive communication using open-ended questions by healthcare providers facilitates adherence.
- Assessing and managing functional and organizational barriers throughout treatment is necessary.
- A collaborative, multidisciplinary approach involving physicians, pharmacists, and nurses enhances adherence outcomes.
Impact:
- Improved therapeutic outcomes and quality of life for elderly patients with chronic conditions.
- Reduced healthcare costs associated with medication non-adherence and its complications.
- Enhanced patient-provider relationships through shared decision-making and tailored adherence support.
Related Concept Videos
01:15Drug Dosing: Geriatric Patients
Elderly individuals encompass a diverse population with varying degrees of age-related physiological changes. Defining the elderly presents challenges, as the geriatric population is often arbitrarily categorized as individuals older than 65. However, many individuals in this group lead active and healthy lives, with an increasing number surpassing 85 years and falling into the older elderly category. Physiological changes associated with aging impact performance capacity and homeostatic...
01:27Pharmacodynamics in Geriatric Patients: Effects of Age
Age-related pharmacokinetic changes are extensively documented, but understanding age-related pharmacodynamic alterations is relatively limited. This knowledge gap can be partly attributed to the complexity of developing appropriate measures of drug responses compared to bioanalytical methods for determining drug concentrations.Most information regarding age-related differences in human pharmacodynamics originates from cross-sectional studies. However, these studies assume that observed mean...
01:22Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Absorption
As individuals age, their body's physiology evolves, affecting drug pharmacokinetics. The most apparent changes occur in the gastrointestinal tract, where an increase in gastric pH, a delay in gastric emptying, and a reduction in gastrointestinal motility are observed. Remarkably, these changes do not substantially modify the absorption of orally administered drugs, particularly those absorbed via passive diffusion.Transdermal drug delivery emerges as a highly viable method for older adults due...
01:00Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Distribution
Drug distribution in the human body is influenced by several factors, including plasma protein concentration, body composition, blood flow, tissue-protein concentration, and tissue fluid pH. Among these, changes in plasma protein concentration and body composition due to aging significantly affect how drugs are distributed within the body. Specifically, aging is associated with a decrease in albumin levels by about 10% and an increase in α1-acid glycoprotein levels. These alterations are not...
01:18Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Excretion
In geriatric patients, renal physiology undergoes significant changes, including diminished renal blood flow and a lower glomerular filtration rate (GFR), leading to alterations in medication clearance. Drugs such as aminoglycoside antibiotics, lithium, and digoxin, which rely on glomerular filtration for removal from the body, particularly impact pharmacokinetics. These drugs tend to have slower clearance rates in older adults, necessitating careful dosage considerations.Evaluation of renal...
01:18Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Metabolism
Geriatric patients show significant variation in how their bodies process medications, which can change how effective and safe treatments are. The liver is the primary organ where drug metabolism occurs, involving two main types of chemical reactions: phase I and II. Phase I metabolism is driven by the cytochrome P450 enzyme system, which includes key types such as CYP3A, CYP2D6, and CYP2C9. Research indicates that while aging doesn't notably alter the levels or activity of these enzymes, it...