Mediating Role of Medication Self‐Management Ability in Older Individuals With Chronic Kidney Disease Between Transitional Care Quality and Medication Discrepancy: A Cross‐Sectional Study

This study aims to investigate the mediating role of medication self‐management ability in the relationship between transitional care quality and medication discrepancy among older individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD) during the hospital‐home transition. A cross‐sectional study was conducted on 262 older individuals with CKD in two hospitals utilizing a general information questionnaire, medication discrepancy tool, self‐administration of medication tool, and partner at care transitions measure. Data analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 27.0, and the mediating role was scrutinized via the SPSS PROCESS 4.0 plugin. The results showed that the incidence of medication discrepancy was 79.4% at 8 weeks post‐discharge. A positive correlation was found between transitional care quality and medication self‐management ability ( r = 0.527, p < 0.001). Negative correlations were observed between medication self‐management ability and medication discrepancy ( β = −0.205, OR = 0.814, p < 0.001), as well as between transitional care quality and medication discrepancy ( β = −0.249, OR = 0.780, p < 0.001). It is concluded that improved transitional care quality and medication self‐management ability reduce the incidence of medication discrepancies, with medication self‐management ability partially mediating the role of transitional care quality in medication discrepancies.