Medication management skill and regimen compliance are deteriorated in theelderly even without obvious dementia

We investigated whether regimen comprehension deteriorated in the elderly p atients who did not suffer from obvious dementia. Eligible patients were am bulatory elderly patients who did not show any signs of dementia and could visit our outpatient clinic by themselves. 138 patients (age: 43-89, 75 mal es and 63 females, underlying diseases: hypertension, hyperlipidemia, arrhy thmia etc.) were tested with a regimen comprehension scale (RCS: Jpn J Geri at 1997; 34: 209-214). The differences in scores among individuals increase d with age. Scores of 5 or less in the RCS were recorded in 10 out of 69 pa tients aged 65 or more, but no such scores were recorded in younger patient s (p<0.01). The 60 patients who scored less than full marks were classified into two groups, the T-group (tutored by pharmacists), and a Non Tutored g roup. RCS was tested again in both groups. Only in the T-group (n=28), did the second scores increase significantly (from 7.2 +/- 0.9 to 8.6 +/- 2.0 ( mi +/- SD); p<0.01) after tutorial by pharmacists. Comparing the 7 patients who obtained an RCS score of 5 or less and age- and gender-marched control s who got full marks, there was no difference in the HDS-R test. These resu lts suggest that even in elderly patients who did not show any signs of dem entia, the regimen comprehension deteriorated with age, and tutorials in me dication protocols were considered to be effective.