Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Turk Geriatri Dergisi, cilt.12, sa.2, ss.72-81, 2009 (SCI-Expanded)
Introduction: The aim of the study was to examine the self-medication use ability and also characteristics of medication use of elders who live in their home. Materials and Method: IRandomly selected 239 elders who are 65 years and older having at least one chronic diseases and accepted to join the study were included in study. A questionnaire, Standardised Mini-mental Test for having primary or more education level and another Standardised Mini-mental Test for having no education, and Brief Disability Questionnaire were used to collect data. Chi-Square test and logistic regression analysis were used for statistical analyses. Results: The elders who have low educational level, widowed, living alone, not having a person for assistance, economically in bad situation had more problems in medication use (p<0.05). According to the study results the important factors in self-medication use ability were number of chronic disease, number of drugs used, not having enough knowledge about the medicine and its side effects, not satisfied with given knowledge, having physical and social, and also cognitive disability (p<0.05). Conclusion: Inability with self-medication use is common among older people living at home. The elders who are physically and socially disabled, not having assistance for medication use, and not having necessary knowledge about medication use should be followed more closely for having problem in self-medication use and related problems.