CORRELATION OF THE MEDICATION MANAGEMENT EVALUATION INSTRUMENT WITH COMPLIANCE IN GERIATRIC PATIENTS
Michelle A Fritsch and Cristina D Gray

OBJECTIVE: To assess the Medication Management Evaluation Instrument (MMEI), which has been shown to detect patient difficulties in compliance but has never been correlated with actual compliance. The goal was to determine the value of this instrument as a predictor of compliance difficulties.

METHODS: Volunteer patients in the Kansas City Veterans Affairs Medical Center currently enrolled in the Geriatric Evaluation and Management Clinic participated in this study. The MMEI, the Jacob’s Cognitive Capacity Screening Examination (CCSE), and a pill count (at enrollment and at 6 wk) were conducted on all patients with medications meeting the inclusion criteria.

RESULTS: Twenty-two patients participated in the study, with eight compliance data dropouts. Follow-up averaged 44.7 days (range 32–62). The mean age was 71.3 years (range 66–81). The CCSE score was significantly lower in those who had problems defining how to take a medication four times daily than in those who did not (p = 0.002). Compliance ranged from 27.1% to 189% (>100% indicates overcompliance). The CCSE average score was 25.1/30 (range 17–30). Other measures in the MMEI were not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS: Higher cognitive function was found to correlate with better management of complex regimens. On the basis of these data, the MMEI score does not appear to correlate with compliance. Changes in study design and increased power may provide better assessment of correlation.