The most rapidly growing form of residential long-term care is assisted living, but little is known about medication use among this population. Using data from a nationally representative sample collected as part of the ASPE-funded National Study of Assisted Living for the Frail Elderly, this research project will analyze patterns of medication use among assisted living residents in rural and non-rural areas. These data have never been coded or analyzed before. Drug categories will also be used according to Beers et al. criteria, to assess drug-drug interactions as well as drug-age inappropriateness. Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and cognitive scores of residents identified as having drug-age and/or drug-drug interactions will be compared to residents free of potentially adverse interactions.

There may be products related to this project; please contact the lead researcher for more information.