ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Pharmacoepidemiology
This article is part of the Research TopicPharmacoepidemiology in Chronic DiseasesView all 20 articles
Medication Adherence in the Elderly Population with Chronic Diseases: A Factor Analysis
Provisionally accepted
Doris Cardona-Arango1,2*
Valeria Santacruz-Retrepo3Alejandra Rendón-Montoya3Juliana Madrigal-Cadavid3
Alejandra Segura1Jorge Ivan Estrada-Acevedo3- 1CES University, Medellín, Colombia
- 2Independent Researcher in a Postdoctoral Fellowship, Medellín, Colombia
- 3Helpharma, Medellín, Colombia
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Background: Elderly adults suffer from one or more high-cost chronic diseases, consume more medications; therefore, adherence to prescribed treatments is essential to ensure effective management of these conditions. Objective. To identify the characteristics that most significantly affect medication adherence among older adults in Colombia Methods: This was a quantitative, cross-sectional study with an analytical intent based on all medical records, medication orders, dispensing, and pharmacotherapeutic follow-up of patients over 65 years of age treated by a pharmaceutical manager between 2019 and 2025. Medication adherence was related to certain sociodemographic, clinical, and pharmacological characteristics. The analyses were univariate, bivariate, and multi-variate, using an explanatory model to control for potentially confounding variables (with a significance level greater than 5%), crude and adjusted proportion ratios, 95% confidence intervals, and factor analysis using the principal component method. Results: A total of 42,601 records of older adults were evaluated. Medication non-adherence was 5.9%, and pharmacological factors were the most statistically associated, mainly problems of inappropriate use; suffering from various chronic diseases with various pharmacological regimens, coupled with administrative inefficiencies and inappropriate use of medications, are variables that influence non-adherence. Conclusions: From a public health perspective, medication adherence in older adults is a determinant of health out-comes and a key factor for the sustainability of health systems. Optimizing adherence requires comprehensive interventions framed within public policies that guarantee continuity of care, timely access to medications, and the strengthening of interdisciplinary teams. Recognizing adherence as a collective, and not just an individual, challenge is essential to reducing preventable complications, lowering hospitalization rates, and improving the quality of life of an increasingly aging population.
Keywords: Medication Adherence, Aging, Chronic Disease, Medication Therapy Management, SDG3, Health and well-being, Universal, Universal Health Coverage
Received: 05 Sep 2025; Accepted: 24 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cardona-Arango, Santacruz-Retrepo, Rendón-Montoya, Madrigal-Cadavid, Segura and Estrada-Acevedo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Doris Cardona-Arango
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