Medication Status and Adherence of the Elderly under Home Care Nursing

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study is a descriptive research intended to clarify the medication status of community-dwelling elders and to identify factors affecting their medication adherence. METHODS: Data were collected using questionnaires and interviews from 101 subjects who had taken prescribed drugs for at least 7 days sampled among elderly people using home care nursing at a general hospital in Seoul. RESULTS: According to the results of this study, medication adherence measured by pill counting was 88.3% and that measured by self-reporting was 94.6%. There were statistically significant differences in medication adherence according to major disease (p=.006), the number of admissions (p=.032), the number of drugs (p=.051), the frequency of medication (p=.026), and depression (r=-.205). In addition, depression was found to be a significant variable explaining the medication adherence with explanatory power 3.8% (p=.035). CONCLUSION: The presence of depression affected the elderly subjects' the medication adherence. Therefore, more concern and educational approaches are required to encourage elderly people to comply correctly with medication regimens particularly for elderly patients who have a malignant or long-lasting disease or who have to take multiple drugs or maintain a daily dosing frequency.