Pattern of Medication Adherence among Elderly Suffering from Chronic Diseases: A Clinic Based Study in Rural West Bengal

Aparajita Dasgupta; Keya Roy; Jayeeta Burman; Bobby Paul

Volume : IX, Issue : II, February - 2019

Pattern of Medication Adherence among Elderly Suffering from Chronic Diseases: A Clinic Based Study in Rural West Bengal

Aparajita Dasgupta, Keya Roy, Jayeeta Burman, Bobby Paul

Abstract :

Background –Medication non–adherence remains a major hindrance to chronic disease control among elderly making them vulnerable to complications and poor quality of life. Objectives– This study was conducted to find out the extent of medication adherence among rural elderly and factors associated with non–adherence. Methods–This clinic based cross–sectional study was conducted among 129 patients aged 60 years and above suffering from chronic diseases attending Nasibpur Primary Health Centre at Singur, West Bengal during August–September 2017.Data were obtained with a pre–designed, pre–tested, structured schedule containing questions regarding socio–demographic characteristics, disease profile and addiction habits. Medication adherence was measured taking last 7days recall. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression taking medication non–adherence as dependent variable were performed to analyze the data by using SPSS 16 version. Results– The mean (standard deviation) age of the study subjects was 65.2 (± 5.6) years. Majority of them suffered from hypertension (72.8%), diabetes (30.2%). About 46.5% elderly had not taken medicines regularly as per prescribed regimen (reasons cited: 30.9% complained about inadequate medicine supply, 7.8% about the distance of hospital from their house for not procuring medicines, and 7.8% forgot to take medicines). Lower level of education [AOR=3.3(1.4,7.4)], economic dependency [AOR=4.2(1.8,9.8)] and poor perceived health status [AOR=2.3(1.1,5.2)] were significantly associated with medication non–adherence when adjusted with other variables in multivariable regression analysis. Conclusion: Financial security, knowledge about benefits of compliance to therapy through health education and family support will be able to improve health of elderly people and can enhance their productive longevity.