title: The influence of frailty syndrome on medication adherence among elderly patients with hypertension.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertension affects about 80% of people older than 80 years; however, diagnosis and treatment are difficult because about 55% of them do not adhere to treatment recommendations due to low socioeconomic status, comorbidities, age, physical limitations, and frailty syndrome.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purposes of this study were to evaluate the influence of frailty on medication adherence among elderly hypertensive patients and to assess whether other factors influence adherence in this group of patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study included 296 patients (mean age 68.8±8.0) divided into frail (n=198) and non-frail (n=98) groups. The Polish versions of the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) for frailty assessment and 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale for adherence assessment were used. The frail patients had lower medication adherence in comparison to the non-frail subjects (6.60±1.89 vs 7.11±1.42;P=0.028). Spearman's rank correlation coefficients showed that significant determinants with negative influence on the level of adherence were physical (rho =-0.117), psychological (rho =-0.183), and social domain (rho =-0.163) of TFI as well as the total score of the questionnaire (rho =-0.183). However, multiple regression analysis revealed that only knowledge about complications of untreated hypertension (β=0.395) and satisfaction with the home environment (β=0.897) were found to be independent stimulants of adherence level.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Frailty is highly prevalent among elderly hypertensive patients. Higher level of frailty among elderly patients can be considered as a determinant of lower adherence. However, social support and knowledge about complications of untreated hypertension are the most important independent determinants of adherence to pharmacological treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Nursing, Faculty of Health Science, Wroclaw Medical University.
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jankowska-Polańska
authors.affiliation: Department of Logistic and Transport Systems, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Technology.
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dudek
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Occupational Diseases, Hypertension and Clinical Oncology, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szymanska-Chabowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Nursing, Faculty of Health Science, Wroclaw Medical University.
authors.forename: Izabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Uchmanowicz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015897:Comorbidity; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000073496:Frailty / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011044:Poland; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016903:Drug Monitoring
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents
keywords: ageing; frailty syndrome; geriatric syndrome; hypertension; medication adherence