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The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences Advance Access originally published online on June 2, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 2009 64B(Supplement 1):i86-i93; doi:10.1093/geronb/gbp036
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Medication Data Collection and Coding in a Home-Based Survey of Older Adults

Dima M. Qato1,2, L. Philip Schumm3, Michael Johnson3, Andreea Mihai1 and Stacy Tessler Lindau1,2,4,5

1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
2 Chicago Core on Biomeasures in Population-Based Aging Research at the Center on Demography and Economics of Aging, Chicago, Ilinois
3 Department of Health Studies
4 Department of Medicine-Geriatrics, University of Chicago, Illinois
5 MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Illinois

Address correspondence to Dima Qato, PharmD, MPH, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave., Chicago, IL. Email: dimaqato{at}uchicago.edu


  Abstract

Objectives: To describe the collection, coding, and validity of medication data from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP)—a survey of a national probability sample of adults aged 57–85 years.

Methods: Medication data were collected during an in-home interview by direct observation using a computer-based log and included prescription, over-the-counter, and nutritional supplements. The Multum® drug database was used for coding drug names and for mapping those names to therapeutic categories. Drugs not included in Multum® were assigned to medication classes by extending Multum’s typology. Internal and external validity of the medication data are examined and analytic use of the medication data is discussed.

Results: Only 0.9% of respondents refused to participate in the medication log. Ninety-nine percent of all entries were identified and mapped to a medication class. Use of medication classes correlated highly with the presence of corresponding health conditions and related biological measures. The prevalence of use of common therapeutic classes of medications in NSHAP is comparable to that found in other national studies.

Discussion: Nearly all NSHAP respondents cooperated with the medication use data collection protocol. Medication data obtained by the in-home, direct observation medication log method were found to be internally and externally valid.

Key Words: Elderly • Medication • Medication log • Methods • Population-based • Validation

Received August 8, 2008; Accepted April 15, 2009

Decision Editor: Robert B. Wallace, MD, MSc


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