Performance of Medication Tasks: Relationship Among Patient-Reported Outcomes, Performance-Based Assessments, and...

Occupational therapy practitioners use standardized assessments to guide their clinical decision-making, but it is unclear how well performance on standardized assessments translates to performance at home.

To understand the concurrent and predictive validity of patient-reported outcomes and performance-based assessments for monitoring performance at home within the context of medication management and adherence.

Exploratory study.

Participants completed standardized assessments in a lab or at home, which were followed by home-based electronic monitoring of medication adherence.

Sixty community-dwelling adults with hypertension or stroke who independently took antihypertensive medications.

Participants completed the Hill-Bone Medication Adherence Scale, the Hill-Bone Medication Adherence Reasons Scale, the Performance Assessment of Self-Care Skills Medication Management subtask, and the Executive Function Performance Test-Enhanced Medication Management subtest. Then, they used an electronic pill cap to monitor medication adherence at home for 1 month.

Patient-reported outcomes and performance-based assessments in the context of medication management and adherence demonstrated poor concurrent and predictive validity to medication adherence at home.

There is a gap between what people think they will do, what they can do on a standardized assessment, and what they actually do at home. Future research is needed to strengthen concurrent and predictive validity to clinically meaningful outcomes. Plain-Language Summary: Occupational therapy practitioners should use caution when using standardized assessments to try to predict client performance at home. They should also continue to use a battery of assessments, clinical reasoning, and client preferences to guide their decision-making for monitoring performance at home within the context of medication management and adherence.