Relationship Between Polypharmacy and Medication Adherence in the Hypertensive Elderly Patients

Background: Proper adherence to the medication regimen in hypertensive elderly patients is important. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between polypharmacy with adherence to the medication regimen in hypertensive elderly patients. Materials and Methods: Using stratified random sampling method, the present descriptive-analytical study was performed on 384 hypertensive elderly patients in Gonabad, Iran in 2016. The study population included males and females aged over 60 years who were covered by Gonabad urban and rural community health centers. Data were collected using demographic questionnaire and the eight-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8). Results: The mean daily medications in participants was 6±2.43, and a high medication adherence was observed among 36.7% of the subjects. Chi-square test showed a significant relationship between polypharmacy and medication adherence (P = 0.006). Conclusion: Physicians and nurses can play an important role in preventing the risks of polypharmacy, as well as non-adherence to medication regimen by educating the hypertensive elderly patients or their caregivers.