At Any Age, It Does Matter:
Substance Abuse and Older Adults
(for Professionals)
Module 5: Recognizing Other Forms of Substance Abuse
- Page 19
of 31
Medication Adherence by Patients
One of the major issues in medication misuse is adherence. Many prescriptions are never taken as directed or are not taken at all. One researcher estimated that as many as 75 percent of older persons do not take their medication correctly.64Such widespread misuse of prescriptions requires intensive efforts by clinicians, caregivers, and family members to determine the patterns of misuse. It is also important to understand why those patterns exist and to educate patients about medication management.
In general, difficulties adhering to medication regimens relate to the following factors:
- A lack of judgment or misconceptions about the drugs
- An inability to manage the medication regimen, because it is complex or the patient has memory problems
- Insufficient resources for purchasing or storing the medications
- Intentional misuse to obtain results other than planned (e.g., pain pills to sleep, relax, soften negative affect)
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Last Updated: 07-03-2002
SAMHSA is an Agency of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
