Compliance with prescribed drugs: challenges for the elderly population

Compliance with prescribed drug regimens is particularly important among th e elderly because of their increased vulnerability and greater burden of ch ronic disorders. This narrative review discusses the factors that are impor tant to compliance, with particular reference to the elderly. These factors are the patient's perceptions of his disease and it's treatment, the physi cian's perceptions, the manner the physician assumes and the language he us es to communicate with the patient, the patient's living situation, regular medication review, and a continuity of health care provision. Since it is the patient who decides how to use the therapy, his or her involvement in t he process of explaining and understanding it is the key to improved compli ance.