Comparing self-report medication data from a longitudinal study on intellectual disability and national dispensing...

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Psychopharmacology
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Medication data are crucial for epidemiological studies.
• Self-report is the most common method for collecting medication data.
• Comparing self-report accuracy with dispensing records is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare agreement between self-reported medication data and pharmacy dispensing records.
• To assess the validity of self-reported medication data in older adults with intellectual disability (ID).

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Intellectual Disability Supplement to the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing.
• Linked self-report medication data with national pharmacy dispensing records.
• Employed the kappa statistic to measure agreement for psychotropic medications.

Main Results:

• Agreement levels ranged from 'moderate' (kappa 0.56 for anxiolytics) to 'almost perfect' (kappa 0.91 for antipsychotics).
• Substantial to almost perfect agreement was observed for other psychotropic medication categories.
• Indicated good concordance between the two data sources.

Conclusions:

• The study found good agreement between self-reported medication data and national dispensing records in adults with ID.
• Self-report medication data is a valid method for assessing psychotropic medication use in this population.
• Supports the use of self-report data in future epidemiological research involving adults with ID.