Compliance Of Elderly Patients Research Articles

Patient-hospital relationship and quality of life in elderly patients with hypertension.

To investigate the influence of the patient-hospital relationship on the quality of life (QOL) and on medication compliance in elderly patients with hypertension, we developed a comprehensive scale for assessing the patient-hospital relationship. In the first phase, an original questionnaire consisting of 40 items was designed under five fields for global assessment of the concept. We administered this questionnaire to 715 patients with cardiovascular diseases. Variations in the scores were evaluated by factor analysis. Three factors that comprised the majority of variance were derived by principal components analysis and varimax transformation. These orthogonal factors were considered to reflect "convenience of outpatient clinic", "satisfaction with clinical staff", and "communication with physician". We adopted three items under each of the three domains. Using this instrument, we assessed the patient-hospital relationship in 402 elderly outpatients with hypertension at 8 clinical centers. QOL and medication compliance were simultaneously assessed. A linear regression analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between patient-hospital relationship and QOL scores (r = 0.403, p < 0.0001), which means that patient-hospital relationship explained up to 16% of the total variability in scores on the Overall Quality of Life scale. The medication compliance was also better in patients with higher scores on the Patient-Hospital Relationship scale. These results indicate that the patient-hospital relationship is one of the substantial factors determining QOL and medication compliance in elderly patients with hypertension.

Compliance and Cognitive Function: A Methodological Approach to Measuring Unintentional Errors in Medication Compliance in the Elderly

This study describes the development of a method for assessing the relationship between cognitive function, comprehension, and compliance with medication. We assessed multiple aspects of cognitive performance, medication planning ability, and medication compliance in a convenience sample of 20 outpatients. Using a test battery that measured mental status, attention/concentration, memory function, and motor strength and dexterity, we found that: (1) standard mental status assessment was poorly correlated with memory function; (2) attention/concentration and memory were related to medication planning accuracy; (3) motor dexterity and strength were related to the ability to access medications; and (4) visual perception and memory were the skills most strongly correlated with medication compliance. Findings suggest that aspects of attention/concentration, visual and verbal memory, and motor function which are untapped by simple mental status assessment are related to medication access, planning, and compliance in elderly patients.

Hardiness and Compliance in Elderly Patients With Diabetes

The purpose of this study was to determine if the presence of the hardiness personality characteristic influences compliance. The sample (N = 50) for this study was obtained from a hospital in a large metropolitan area of the United States. The majority of subjects were white, male, married, and diagnosed with type II diabetes. Instruments used to collect data were the Health-Related Hardiness Scale and the Self-Management Compliance Questionnaire. Results indicated that a significant correlation existed between the hardiness and compliance variables. Thirty-six percent of the variance in the compliance score was explained by the total health-related hardiness scores. Findings suggest that the degree of hardiness in individuals with diabetes may predict compliance to a prescribed diabetic regimen.