hrvatski

Joint action to reduce social exclusion by increasing adherence to drugs in elderly

Background Medication adherence usually refers to whether patients take their medications as prescribed and whether they continue to take a prescribed medication. The impact of poor adherence grows as the burden of chronic disease grows worldwide. Adherence to long-term therapy for chronic illnesses in developed countries averages 50%. Older people are less likely to take medicines regularly. One of the reasons is the inadequate training of the health professionals what makes difficulties. Methods The cross-sectional survey was conducted at 106 Zagreb, Croatia pharmacies and the questionnaire was filled out by the study subjects. We used a 33-item self-administered questionnaire that included a convenience sample of 635 individuals who were buying drugs for the treatment of chronic diseases. Research results In our study population (n=635), non- adherent subjects prevailed over adherent subjects (n=370 ; 58.3% vs. n=265 ; 41.7%). The most common diagnoses were diseases of the circulatory system (n=500 ; 36.8%) and endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (n=285 ; 21.0%). The majority of study subjects reported forgetfulness (“I just forgot”) as the main reason for skipping drug doses, followed by being away from home and shortage of the drug (having consumed it all). Conclusions Nonadherence to medication is a growing concern for patients, physicians, healthcare systems, and other stakeholders.Research on adherence has typically focused on the barriers patients face in taking their medications. Common barriers to adherence are under the patient's control, so that attention to them is a necessary and important step in improving adherence. Development of health services and training can reduce nonadherence.

adherence ; drugs ; elderly ; social exclusion

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