Health Behaviors and Medication Adherence in Elderly Patients

• Published in: American journal of health promotion Vol. 31; no. 4; pp. 278 - 286
• Main Authors: Han, Euna, Sohn, Hyun Soon, Lee, Ju-Yeun, Jang, Sunme
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.07.2017; American Journal of Health Promotion
• Subjects: Adherence; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology; Body Mass Index; Body Weights and Measures; Cohort analysis; Diabetes; Diabetes Mellitus - drug therapy; Drinking behavior; Drugs; Exercise; Female; Health Behavior; Health promotion; Health risk assessment; Humans; Hyperlipidemia; Hyperlipidemias - drug therapy; Hypertension; Hypertension - drug therapy; Hypertension - epidemiology; Male; Medication Adherence - statistics & numerical data; National health insurance; Obesity; Obesity - epidemiology; Older people; Patient compliance; Patients; Physical activity; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; Retrospective Studies; Self care; Selfmanagement; Smoking; Smoking - epidemiology; Waist; Strategy: education, skill building/behavior change, policy; Setting: state/national; Elderly Patients, Medication Adherence, Smoking, Physical Activity, Heavy Drinking, Body Mass, Hypertension, Diabetes, Hyperlipidemia, Prevention Research. Manuscript format: research; Outcome measure: behavioral; Target population circumstances: education/income level, geographic location, and race/ethnicity; Research purpose: modeling/relationship testing; Target population age: elderly patients; Health focus: medical self-care; Study design: nonexperimental
• ISSN: 0890-1171; 2168-6602
• DOI: 10.4278/ajhp.150205-QUAN-709

Purpose. To explore the relationships of selected health behaviors to medication adherence. Design. A retrospective cohort study. Setting. Data from Korean national health insurance claims between January 2010 and June 2011. Subjects. Patients aged 65 years and older with hypertension (N = 662,170), hyperlipidemia (N = 244,702), or diabetes (N = 179,285). Measures. Medication adherence as a medication possession ratio from January to June 2011 as a dependent variable. The waist circumference (cm) and the body mass index (weight in kilogram divided by height in meter squared) as a marker for obesity. Smoking, drinking, and physical activity as main independent variables. Analysis. A multivariate logistic regression. Results. Nonobese patients, as based on the waist circumference, were more likely to adhere to their medication (by 8.9% for hypertension, 6.2% for diabetes, and 3.5% for hyperlipidemia). Current smokers were less likely to adhere to their medication (by 8.7% for hypertension and 6.8% for diabetes), and moderate and heavy drinkers were also less likely to show medication adherence for diabetes (by 12.9% and 6.4%). Mild physical activity was related to a 1.1% to 1.8% increase in the likelihood of medication adherence across the three disease groups. Conclusion. Health promotion programs for self-care health behaviors of elderly patients should emphasize good medication adherence to achieve successful self-management of diseases.