Prevalence of medication-related risk factors among retirement village residents: a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND information on medication use and risk factors among older people residing in retirement villages and their uptake of medication reviews are scant. OBJECTIVES to identify medication use issues and risk factors for medication-related problems among retirement village residents and to evaluate the uptake of government-subsidised Home Medicines Review (HMR) services in this population. DESIGN cross-sectional, mail survey. SETTING retirement villages in Victoria, Australia. PARTICIPANTS members of the Residents of Retirement Villages of Victoria residing in retirement villages (2,116, aged 54-100 years). METHODS a questionnaire was developed incorporating validated scales and items to measure medication risk, medication adherence, co-morbidity, disability, information on medication use, health and the uptake of HMR services. Questionnaires were mailed to participants for self-completion and returned using reply-paid envelopes. RESULTS of the 2,116 respondents (70.7% response rate), 2,006 (94.8%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 93.9-95.7%) reported using prescribed medications. Three or more health conditions were present in 993 (46.9%; 95% CI 44.8-49.0%) respondents. Five or more regular medications were used by 988 (46.7%; 95% CI 44.6-48.8%) respondents. Twelve or more tablets/capsules per day were used by 229 (10.8%; 95% CI 9.5-12.1%) respondents. The use of narrow therapeutic index medications was reported by 264 (12.5%; 95% CI 11.1-13.9%) respondents. Changes to medication regimens in the previous 3 months were reported by 356 (16.8%; 95% CI 15.2-18.4%) respondents. One or more medication-related risk factors were seen in 1,374 (64.9%; 95% CI 62.9-66.9%) respondents. Of these at-risk residents, 76 (5.5%; 95% CI 4.5-6.5%) reported receiving an HMR in the previous 12 months, who were older (P < 0.001), were using more medicines (P < 0.001) and had greater disability (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS reasons for the low uptake of medication reviews in retirement village residents despite the high prevalence of medication risk require further investigation.