Impact of Health Literacy on Medication Use in Older Adults: A Review of the Literature

According to the CDC, 48.6% of the US population used at least one prescription drug in the past 30 days. Medications use is especially common in older adults, who may also have cognitive impairment. There is evidence that low health literacy (¾ 2 errors) may be independently associated with an increased risk of mortality. A literature review was conducted to explore the relationship between deficits in health literacy and medication-related problems including the development of adverse drug events and nonadherence in older adults. Tools to assess both medication-related health literacy and medication adherence will be discussed.