Impact of Cognitive Function and Self-efficacy on Medication Adherence of Elderly Patients with Chronic Disease

Purpose: This study was aimed to describe the level of medication adherence and to identify the impact of cognitive function and self-efficacy on medication adherence of elderly patients with chronic disease. Methods: The descriptive study included 303 patients over 65 years with chronic diseases from two medical centers in Cheonan city. Data were collected from July to November 2011. A questionnaire including questions on the Korean version of mini-mental state examination (MMSE-K), self-efficacy and medication adherence were completed by the subjects. Data were analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 20.0 program. Results: The mean score of medication adherence was 1.4±1.6 . In univariate analysis, exercise (t=2.85, p=.005), type of disease (F=3.91, p=.001) and self-efficacy (r=-.57, p<.001) were the significant factors related to medication adherence. Linear regression analysis demonstrated that self-efficacy ( β =-.57, p<.001) was a significantly associated factor with medication adherence. Self-efficacy explained about 33% of the total variance of the medication adherence in elderly patients. Conclusion: The results suggest that self-efficacy to medication can be a facilitator to medication adherence in elderly patients. However, these results indicate that there remains much work to be done in identifying other predictors of medication adherence of elderly patients with chronic diseases.