Medication Adherence and its Affecting Factors among Older Adults

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to evaluate drug compliance and its affecting factors in people aged 65 and over.
METHODS: People aged 65 and over living in Burdur between December 2019 and March 2020 were included in this descriptive study. The data were collected using a form seeking the participants’ demographic and medication use characteristics and the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale.
RESULTS: A total of 348 participants were included in the study, and the mean age was 74.9±7.2 years. It was determined that 256 (73.6%) of the elderly who participated in the study did not have any medication nonadherence, and 92 (26.4%) of them had low medication adherence. It was found that medication nonadherence was higher among those with insufficient/barely sufficient income (OR=1.888, 95%CI=1.114–3.201, p=0.018), not recognizing the medicines they used (OR=1.334, 95%CI=1.072–1.660, p=0.010), and in those believing intravenous medicines to be more efficient than other types of medicines (OR=2.016, 95%CI=1.172–3.468, p=0.011).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Medication nonadherence is quite common among older adults. Medication nonadherence is known to be a key factor for treatment failure. Therefore, it seems necessary to ensure medication literacy among older adults to eliminate medication non-adherence.