Polypharmacy: Non-Adherence to Medication among Adult

The polypharmacy prevalence among adults, whose age group depicts potential self-neglect as they are more focused on their careers, has been alarming as the increase in the number of drugs taken may result in the rise of medication non- adherence occurrences as well. By determining how polypharmacy contributes to medication non-adherence among adults, the study aims to show its prevalence and relationship that may help address the threat it imposes on public health. A non-experimental,  descriptive, correlation design was utilized to obtain data from seventy-seven (77) Liceo de Cagayan University’s  third-year pharmacy students’ biological parents through a survey employing  a Google form with twenty-eight (28) questions derived from ARMS and PATD questionnaire. Frequency count, percentage, mean, standard deviation of variables, and inferential statistics were applied as statistical tools for analysis  and interpretation. Respondents’  profile generally comprised female, middle adults with a monthly income of more than 20,000 Pesos and lived with two or more people. Less than half of the respondents’ population (32.5% in total) were experiencing polypharmacy. They were highly adherent to their medications and had a moderate perspective on their medication regimen. Only polypharmacy showed a significant relationship with medication non-adherence, unlike age, gender, monthly income, and living status.

Keywords: polypharmacy, medicines, intentional non-adherence, unintentional non-adherence, biological parents, pharmacy students