Medicine Adherence in Elderly: A Greatest Concern

Abstract

There is a continuous and growing trend of population aging, increasing the cost of health care

and increasing reports of adverse drug reactions by multimorbid elderly. The burden of chronic

disease in elderly tends to lead numerous use of medications and the prevalence of prescription

of drug use among older adults increases substantially with age. Medications adherence is a key

component of treatment for patients and poor adherence to medications is the common public

health concern. Numerous studies have shown several factors contributing to successful adherence,

including the patient and/or caregiver’s socioeconomic level, the presence or absence of motor and cognitive deficits, patient’s understanding of disease, and a satisfactory doctorpatient relationship. Non- adherence is responsible for suboptimal clinical outcomes, decreased quality of life, and increased expense to the health-care system. So, multidisciplinary approach needs to be carried out to improve the adherence in elderly. Hence, the aim of this article is to highlight the factors associated with medication adherence and the measures to improve the adherence in elderly.