title: Evaluation of a medication education program for elderly hospital in-patients.
abstract: To improve elderly patients' understanding and safe usage of their medications. English-speaking hospital inpatients aged > or =65 years were recruited. They were self-medicating at home with at least 1 regular medication and had a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of at least 20 out of 30. The patients were taught medication details on 3 consecutive days. The patients' medication knowledge was recorded before education and again at a home visit after discharge from hospital. Patient medication knowledge before education showed that participants knew 50% of brand names, dosage and times, 55% of medication purpose, and 15% of major side effects. At follow-up home visits, the relevant figures improved significantly to 90%, 85%, and 25%, respectively (P < or = .05). Similar improvement occurred in the 2 patient groups with an MMSE score of 20 to 24 and 25 to 30 (P = .03). This simple, practical, nursing-staff-conducted program worked well in a hospital setting and resulted in improved medication knowledge, even in patients with mild cognitive impairment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Aged Care & Rehabilitation, Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital in Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karr
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Daniel Kam Yin
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Rosaline
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Dale
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Duvall
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease / Q000451:nursing; D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology; D003142:Communication; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D016014:Linear Models; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D009517:New South Wales; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012646:Self Administration / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology