A nationally representative sample of people aged ≥65 living in private households
3,217
Number of prescribed medicines taken in the last week (excluding smoking cessation products and contraceptives)
Those needing help but not receiving help in the last month for the relevant ADL(s) (absolute measure)
(i) Almost all participants needing help with ADLs reported that they had taken at least one prescribed medicine in the last week; levels were similar among those with met and unmet needs (for details, see Figure 5G and Table 5.6 in [40])
Fair
(ii) Multiple medication use was markedly lower among those who did not need help with ADLs
Stroke survivors aged >18 living in the community outside institutional long-term care (mean age 72.7, SD = 11.6), and their caregivers (anyone identified by the patient as having a role helping with medicine taking)
596 (out of 1687) questionnaires were returned
Total number of daily medicines (mean all patients = 6.4; mean for patients with unmet needs = 9.7)
Needing more help with respect to practical aspects of medicine taking (relative measure)
11% reported needing more help in at least one domain of medicine taking. Unmet needs were associated with being on a higher total number of daily medications (OR: 1.2, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.3, )
Cross-sectional design with an eight-month follow-up
Norway (Oslo)
Patients aged 75+ living in their own homes, who received daily home care, had ≥3 chronic diagnoses, received daily medication, and had been hospitalized during the last year
83 (out of 150 eligible participants)
Daily medications (mean = 9; SD = 4.2)
Fulfilment of prespecified home nursing care needs (relative measure)
(i) 43% of patients had a serious disability, for which needs (e.g. encourage self-care and means to improve ADL) were fulfilled in <10%
Poor
(ii) In those with eating difficulties (39%), 63% received support for food intake, and 38% were assessed for nutrition and problems with food intake
(iii) 34% of patients had mobility limitations for which needs were fulfilled in <20%
Predominantly housebound patients taking multiple medications (mean age 81.7 years; range 49–98 years)
133
Multiple medications (mean 9.4, range 1–23)
Unmet social care needs (the type of unmet need measure is not specified but appears absolute from the text)
11.3% had inadequate social care. Continence, dehydration, hygiene, and nutrition issues were found, often caused by mobility problems or a lack of suitable toilet facilities. A need for home modifications such as handrails to prevent falls was also identified (12.0%)
