Knowledge of cardiovascular medication use in a culturally diverse elderly community

초록

Background Older people have a great difficulty managing their medications. Cardiovascular (CV) disease is the leading cause of death among elderly who are 65 years old or over in the United States. Lack of knowledge of medication use is a major hindrance to managing their disease especially in a culturally diverse community. Objective The study purpose is to explore the knowledge of CV medication use in a culturally diverse elderly community. Methods This is a cross-sectional descriptive study, and structured interviews were used for collecting data from elderly people in community housing. Results The study sample included 99 elderly men and women with a mean age of 81.5 (±7.4). The majority of participants was women (82.8%), lived alone (71%) and had an educational level of high school or higher (71%). Sixty-six participants (67%) were taking at least one CV medications. Of those, the average number of CV medications that participants were taking was 2.02 (±1.10). The most frequently used CV medications were lipid-lowering agents (32.3%) and aspirin (24.2%). Thirty-eight participants (57.6%) demonstrated lack of knowledge of CV medication use. After adjusting for age, gender, level of education and living alone, it was found that having a BMI higher than 25 (OR: 5.46; 95% CI: 1.12, 26.52), drinking alcohol (OR: 0.075; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.83) and having a history of ever smoking (OR: 54.90; 95% CI: 4.39, 686.29) were statistically significant independent predictors of lack of knowledge about CV medications. Conclusion Elderly people who continue to keep healthy behaviors such as maintaining proper body weight and avoiding smoking are more likely to have knowledge about their CV medications.