Self-Reported Medication Adherence Among Older People Admitted to Hospital: A Descriptive Study

BACKGROUND: Poor medication adherence is prevalent among older people. To optimize therapeutic outcomes, it is crucial to understand the underlying causes and perceptions. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the extent of self-reported medication adherence and associated factors among older people admitted to hospital. METHODS: Individuals living at home aged ≥ 75 years with an emergency admission at a university hospital between September 2018 and September 2021 were included. Participants answered the Medication Adherence Report Scale (MARS-5) questionnaire upon admission regarding their prescribed long-term medications. Participants with a MARS-5 score of 23–25 were defined as adherent and with a score of 5–22 as nonadherent. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate possible factors independently associated with self-reported medication adherence. RESULTS: A total of 261 individuals were included. The mean age was 84 years (standard deviation 5.7) and the mean MARS-5 score was 23.9 (standard deviation 1.8). Overall, 227 (87%) participants were classified as adherent to their prescribed treatment, while 34 (13%) participants were classified as nonadherent. Participants with cognitive impairment (odds ratio = 0.40, 95% confidence interval 0.18–0.90, p = 0.027) and depression (odds ratio = 0.29, 95% confidence interval 0.10–0.87, p = 0.028) had a lower odds of reporting adherence to their medications. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of individuals aged ≥ 75 years who were recently hospitalized rated themselves as adherent to their prescribed medications according to MARS-5. Future studies would benefit from adding more possible explanatory factors and combining a self-reported assessment with a more objective measurement of medication adherence.