Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 18, 2026
06:52
Assessment of Dependence in Activities of Daily Living Among Older Patients in an Acute Care Unit
Published on: September 30, 2020
10.4K
Medication Non-adherence in Older Adults: Underlying Factors, Potential Interventions and Outcomes
Elstin Anbu Raj Stanly1,2, Rajesh Vilakkathala3, Johnson George4,5
1Center for Evidence-Informed Decision Making, Prasanna School of Public Health, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, 576104, India.
Drugs & Aging
|September 11, 2025
Summary
Polypharmacy in older adults leads to poor health. This review identifies factors affecting medication adherence and explores solutions like medication review and technology to improve outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Pharmacology
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Polypharmacy is prevalent in older adults, increasing risks of adverse health outcomes.
- Poor medication adherence significantly impacts the health and well-being of elderly populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify factors contributing to suboptimal medication-taking in older patients.
- To explore potential interventions for mitigating medication-related risks in the elderly.
Main Methods:
- A scoping review methodology was employed to synthesize existing literature.
- Analysis encompassed patient-related, treatment-related, and healthcare system factors.
Main Results:
- Medication adherence is influenced by patient characteristics, treatment complexity, health status, socio-demographics, healthcare providers, and system-level issues.
- Educational, behavioral, and regimen simplification strategies show promise for optimizing medication use.
- Medication review, deprescribing, and technology-based interventions are emerging solutions.
Conclusions:
- Addressing multifactorial influences on medication adherence is crucial for improving older adults' health outcomes.
- Interventions like medication review, deprescribing, and patient/family engagement can enhance safety and reduce costs.
- Technological advancements offer new avenues for supporting self-management and medication adherence.
Related Concept Videos
01:15Drug Dosing: Geriatric Patients
228
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...
228
01:27Pharmacodynamics in Geriatric Patients: Effects of Age
190
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...
190
01:22Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Absorption
229
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...
229
01:18Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Metabolism
198
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...
198
01:00Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Distribution
234
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...
234
01:28Drug Therapy
246
The advent of drug therapy has profoundly shaped modern mental health care, providing targeted treatments for a range of psychological disorders. Psychotherapeutic drugs, classified into antianxiety, antidepressant, and antipsychotic medications, address symptoms across anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and schizophrenia. While these medications have transformed patient outcomes, they require careful management due to their potential side effects and limitations.
Antianxiety Medications
Antianxiety Medications
246