Complementary medicine use is not associated with non-adherence to conventional medication in the elderly: a retrospective study.

Lack of adherence to medications is a potential cause of hospitalizations, morbidity, and mortality in the elderly. Medication adherence decreases with polypharmacy. Older persons commonly use complementary medicine, therefore complementary medicine use might pose an increase risk of loss of medication adherence with conventional medications, but this has not been previously investigated. A chart review was conducted of 300 patients at least sixty-five years of age who used at least three medications each who attended a university geriatrics clinic in Florida, USA to obtain information about medication adherence and complementary medicine use. However, no association was found between use of at least one complementary medicine and adherence to conventional medications. Published by Elsevier Ltd.