Resumen

ODUBANJO, Oluremi A.; TIPPING, Brent  y  GREENSTEIN, Lara S.. Medication adherence in geriatric patients attending medical outpatient department. SAFP [online]. 2024, vol.66, n.1, pp.1-8. ISSN 2078-6204.  https://doi.org/10.4102/safp.v66i1.6011.

BACKGROUND: Adherence to medication represents a challenge in managing chronic conditions in the geriatric population. This study assessed adherence rates and factors affecting adherence of geriatric patients attending the Helen Joseph Hospital outpatient department METHODS: This was a prospective cross-sectional study of 130 patients aged 65 years and older, with at least two chronic conditions. Participants were administered a survey incorporating the Medication Adherence Rating Scale and the Adherence Barrier Questionnaire to identify medication adherence and patient-specific barriers to adherence, respectively. These instruments are reliable and valid. RESULTS: Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used for analysis. Most patients were female (63%) with a mean age of 72 (67-78) years. Common comorbidities included type 2 diabetes mellitus (63%), hypertension (98%), dyslipidaemia (92%) and congestive cardiac failure (38%). Polypharmacy was prevalent, affecting 53% of the participants. Despite 96% of participants being adherent, all had at least one barrier to adherence, with the majority (65%) having more than one barrier. The main barriers were forgetfulness (59%), fear of side effects (39%), problems with taking the medications (26%) and believing medications are poisonous (22%). Although most participants accessed the pharmacy easily, only 83% reported consistent medication availability and 11% could not afford to collect their medication. CONCLUSION: Polypharmacy is common in the population. Despite high adherence rates, barriers such as believing medications are poisonous remain significant. A good patient-doctor relationship improves adherence. CONTRIBUTION: Understanding the barriers to adherence in older adults with polypharmacy and multimorbidity can assist practitioners improve patient care.

Palabras clave : geriatric population; adherence; polypharmacy; medication; barriers; challenges.

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