The Role of Home Medication Storage Location in Increasing Medication Adherence for Older Adults

Background Over 50% of U.S. adults do not take their prescriptions as prescribed, which is responsible for 33% to 69% of hospital admissions and 125,000 deaths annually. Given the higher prevalence of prescription drug use among older adult populations, increasing medication adherence is of particular importance with this age group. Two speculated facilitators of medication adherence are home medication storage location and the use of digital health devices. Objective Our objective was to use survey data to investigate the associations between medication storage location and medication adherence among adults 40 years and older. Additionally, we aimed to report preliminary findings about the associations between use of digital health devices and medication adherence in this same population. Methods We conducted primary analysis of data sampled from a home medication management survey deployed in November 2021 (n=580). Exploratory analyses were conducted by way of chi 2 tests and creation of bivariate logistic regression models. Results The most heavily used storage locations were nightstand drawers (27%), kitchen cabinets (25%), and atop bedroom nightstands (23%). Certain medication storage locations were associated with greater medication adherence. Several storage locations were significantly associated with decreased odds of having ever forgotten to take a medication, including kitchen drawers, in refrigerators, atop bedroom nightstands, in nightstand drawers, and backpacks, purses, or bags. Two home medication storage locations were significantly associated with increased odds of having ever forgotten to intake a medication: kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities. Further, most (94%) survey respondents indicated they would be receptive to guidance about where to store their medications. Conclusions Given that all patients need to select a location to store their prescription medication in their homes and that some storage locations are associated with adherence, we believe that an intervention to optimize storage selection may lead to increased adherence. The impact of digital health device usage paired with optimized home medication storage location on medication adherence in older adult populations remains unknown but is worthy of further investigation. Further, we plan to investigate how new device designs can incorporate specific storage locations and contextual cues related to location to promote adherence more effectively.