Medication Adherence in Elderly with Polypharmacy Living at Home: a Systematic Review of Existing Studies

BACKGROUND We wanted to systematically review the available evidence to evaluate the drug adherence in elderly with polypharmacy living at home. METHODS We performed a literature search using MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science, ProQuest, EMBASE, SCOPUS, Springer Link, Sage Journals and CINAHL. We used the following terms: Medication Adherence, Medication Compliance, Polypharmacy, and Elderly. The search was limited to English-language articles. We included only clinical trials, systematic reviews, meta-analysis and cross-sectional studies. RESULTS A total of seven articles were included in this systematic review after applying the search strategy. Six studies dealt with the prevalence of medication adherence and its correlates in patients aged 65 years or more with polypharmacy. Two studies dealt with the effect of various interventions on medication adherence in patients aged 65 years or more with polypharmacy. CONCLUSION The available literature on the polypharmacy and drug adherence in elderly living at home is scarce and further studies are needed.