WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

Wafaa Salih Ati* and Batool Ali Hassan 

ABSTRACT

Background:The elderly are the fastest growing demographic sector, with over 1.2 billion over 60 by 2025. Safeand effective pharmacological therapy for the elde rly is difficult due to rising drug use. Geriatricpharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics affect pharmacological treatment because organs deteriorate with age.The study aimed to evaluate medication adherence levels and identify predictors of poor adherence in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Method: conducted as a cross-sectional study in four Primary Healthcare Centers in Baghdad from August 1, 2024, to January 1, 2025, it included 400 patients aged 60 and above with confirmed T2DM. Patients unable to participate due to physical or psychological issues were excluded. Adherence was assessed using the Morisky Medication-Taking Adherence Scale (MMAS-8). Results: revealed that 60.5% of patients had low adherence, 39.5% had medium adherence, and none had high adherence. Significant associations were found between adherence levels and age (P=0.005), sex (P<0.001), residency (P=0.010), education level (P=0.001), and occupation (P=0.001). Low adherence was more prevalent among patients aged over 70, females, rural residents, those with higher education, and retirees. Additionally, patients without a family history of T2DM (P=0.007), those with other chronic diseases (P=0.015), and those taking medications more frequently daily (P=0.029) had significantly lower adherence. Conclusion: all patients exhibited low to medium adherence, with no high adherence observed. Key predictors of lower adherence included age over 70, female sex, rural residency, higher education, retirement, absence of a family history of T2DM, presence of other chronic diseases, and increased daily medication frequency. These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to improve medication adherence in elderly T2DM patients, considering these identified predictors.