1Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
2Center for Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University, USA
3Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University, USA
4Centre for Ageing Research and Education, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
5Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
*Corresponding author: Ying Guo, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
Submission: July 23, 2018;Published: August 27, 2018
ISSN: 2577-2007Volume4 Issue1
As the number of patients with high morbidity and medication burden increases, it is important to understand care patterns and patient behaviors in complex populations. Few studies on confidence and medication adherence have been conducted among older East Asian populations [1-4]. The aim of this study was to investigate whether older adults who demonstrate care complexity (multiple providers or outpatient healthcare visits) express varying levels of confidence in medication use and non-adherence. Participants of a nationally representative survey of older Singaporeans were selected for analysis (N=1302). Associations of interest were assessed using logistic regression, controlling for age, gender, ethnicity [5], education, medications and comorbidities. Compared to participants who had no visits to a provider in the past 3 months, participants with one visit to a single provider (OR=3.05, 95% CI 1.81 - 5.14), two visits -each to a different provider (OR=2.49, 95% CI 1.34 - 4.65) and multiple visits or providers (OR=2.51, 95% CI 1.62 - 5.03) expressed lower confidence in medication use [6]. There was no association between care complexity and medication non-adherence. Among older Singaporeans, high care complexity was associated with lower confidence in medication use, but not to medication non-adherence.
Keywords: Geriatric health/Gerontology; Medication adherence; Health care reforms; Health care services; Multiple chronic conditions