Age Differences in Daily Predictors of Forgetting to Take Medication: The Importance of Context and Cognition

Abstract

The present study examined age differences in the within-person daily associations of basic cognition, everyday cognition, and busyness with forgetting to take medication. The authors extend previous interindividual difference findings by conducting a daily diary study of a baseline assessment and 8 consecutive days of 40 older adults (age = 60–89 years, M = 74.86) and 31 younger adults (age = 18–20 years, M = 18.30) where basic cognition, everyday cognition, busyness, and forgetting medication were assessed each day and entered simultaneously into one model. Results from a logistic multilevel model indicated that performance on Letter Series was beneficial for both age groups, but the role of fluctuations in busyness on forgetting to take medications was opposite for younger and older adults. Younger adults remembered to take their medication the most on days when they had high everyday cognition and were busier. Older adults remembered to take their medication the most on days when they had high everyday cognition but were less busy. These findings highlight the importance of contextual variation in busyness in relation to daily medication adherence for younger and older adults.

Acknowledgments

Support for this research was provided by a donation from Vasudha Gupta awarded to Shevaun D. Neupert. The authors are grateful to Laura Eischen and Verena Rojas for their assistance with data collection and to Gilda Ennis for her helpful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. Portions of this article were presented at the Cognitive Aging Conference in 2008.

Notes

Note. Age differences at *p < .05 and ***p < .001.

*p < .05; ***p < .001.