title: Medication adherence in healthy elders: small cognitive changes make a big difference.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This was a cross-sectional study of the ability of independently living healthy elders to follow a medication regimen. Participants were divided into a group with High Cognitive Function (HCF) or Low Cognitive Function (LCF) based on their scores on the ADAS-Cog.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-eight participants aged 65 or older and living independently in the community followed a twice-daily vitamin C regimen for 5 weeks. Adherence was measured using an electronic 7-day pillbox.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The LCF group had significantly poorer total adherence than the HCF group (LCF: 63.9 +/- 11.2%, HCF: 86.8 +/- 4.3%, t( 36) = 2.57, p = .007), and there was a 4.1 relative risk of non-adherence in the LCF group as compared to the HCF group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study has important implications for the conduct of clinical drug trials, as it provides strong evidence that even very mild cognitive impairment in healthy elderly has a detrimental impact on medication adherence.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Engineering, Oregon Health & Sciences University, 3303 SW Bond Avenue, Portland, OR 97239, USA. hayesta@ohsu.edu
authors.forename: Tamara L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Larimer
authors.forename: Andre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adami
authors.forename: Jeffrey A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kaye