Self-administered medication-risk questionnaire in an elderly population.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate and validate a 10-item self-administered questionnaire for use by elderly patients to identify who is at increased risk of potentially experiencing a medication-related problem (MRP).


METHODS
Forty participants aged >/=60 years who took >/=2 prescription drugs regularly completed the questionnaire. Data collection was based on patient interviews, review of pharmacy or medical records, and drug regimen reviews (DRRs). Outcome measures included feasibility, inter-rater reliability, test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and validity of the questionnaire. DRR severity scores were determined for each participant based on published guidelines for appropriate use.


RESULTS
The questionnaire was easily administered to this group of older adults. Overall inter-rater reliability was high (r = 0.847). Nine of 10 individual questions matched well between the investigator and participants (kappa 0.4-0.6 for 3 questions; >0.6 for 6 questions). Test-retest reliability was significant for all 10 questions (kappa > 0.6). Internal consistency was acceptable (alpha = 0.69). DRR severity scores were correlated with questionnaire responses to determine validity. The number of yes answers correlated significantly with higher DRR severity scores (p < 0.001). Furthermore, 5 individual questions significantly correlated with DRR severity scores.


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that a self-administered questionnaire can be used in an older adult population to identify patients potentially at increased risk of MRPs. Clinicians in ambulatory care settings with similar patient populations can use a modified form of the questionnaire to screen for patients who should receive a medication review.
Barenholtz Levy
Hedva
H
HbL PharmaConsulting, St. Louis, MO, USA. hedva@hblpharm.com
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D010595:Pharmacists; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012651:Self Medication / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires