Discrepancies between elderly patient's self-reported and prescribed medications: A social investigation

Abstract

Aims: To study some characteristics of the elderly people attending the family practice clinic at the Jordan University Hospital (JUH) and to evaluate their knowledge of the prescribed drugs. Methods: A total of 400 elderly people (180 men and 220 women) aged 71±5.8years were studied regarding sociodemographic characteristics and the use of medicinal and nonmedicinal remedies. In addition, agreement between self-reported drug information and information taken from the medical records was also evaluated. Findings: Almost one-third of the patients had full agreement between their knowledge of total number of drugs they take and the numbers found in the medical records, whereas 43.4% underestimated and 21.8% overestimated these numbers. Five drugs/classes were accurately estimated by the patient (methyldopa, ezetimibe, warfarin, statins and antigout drugs). Underestimation was noticed in 17 drugs/classes and overestimation in 14. The significantly underestimated drug classes were biphoshponates, proton pump inhibitors, sulfonylureas and antiepileptic drugs. Conclusion: Some aspects of elderly people were evaluated regarding their medication knowledge. Almost two-third of the patients did not take their drugs in the proper way. The results of the study highlight the importance of taking several actions by all healthcare workers and by the community to optimise health care provided for elderly people. © 2012 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences © 2012 Nordic College of Caring Science.