Factors affecting access to drug therapy in the elderly.

We conducted a literature search to examine the factors that affect the access of elderly individuals to drug therapy. Factors which influenced access included physical and psychological patient factors (vision, hearing, motor control, swallowing ability, education, cognition, autoagism, any psychiatric disorders present), physician factors (education, agism, lack of adequate research in the elderly, patient and caregiver expectations) and, finally, environmental factors (health insurance and economic issues). All of these factors interact in a complex fashion and may influence optimal drug therapy in the elderly.