Why People Forget to Take Their Medicine, and What You Can Do About It

Dec. 3, 2012 - PRLog -- A study from North Carolina State University has found that changes in daily behavior have a significant effect on whether or not  we remember to take our daily medication.That means that with  changes in behavior, we can do about it.

The sudy showed it is not just differences between people, but differences in what we do each day, that have a big impact ont our ability to remember to take the dailiy medication as needed, when needed.   Dr. Shevaun Neupert,at NC State and the lead author on a research paper sattes, “This is the first time anyone has looked at the effect daily changes in how busy we are affects our ability to remember medications."  Added an electronic pill dispenser can greatly increase the likelyhood of behaviolal change that can reduce forgetting errors.

We also learned that these changes in daily behavior affect different age groups in different ways.  Adding a programmable pill box like the MED-Q automatic Pill dispenser  can have a big impact on remembering  An example, young people do the best job of remembering to take their medication on days when they are busier than usual,” Neupert says. “But older adults do a better job of remembering their medication on days when they are less busy.”  Pill timers can offset the personal problems presented by different age groups

Researchers evaluated  participants who were on prescribed daily medications regiment . The participants were split into two seperate groups for study, Senior adults (ages of 60 to 89) and younger people ( ages of 18 to 20)  Researchers found that the study  participants were much more likely to remember to take their medications on days when they performed better than usual on “cognition” tests.

“We found that cognition is an important factor in remembering medications,” Neupert says, “but that how busy we are is also important.” This has very real applications for helping people remember to take medications and the value of medication reminder devices.

“We’ve found such a disparity between young and old adults, that it’s clear we need to tailor our messages to these two groups,” Neupert says. “For example, it is important for young people to stay busy and be active. This helps them  to remember to take their medications. However, on the other hand, we need to let Senior adults know that need to be particularly vigilant about remembering medication on days when they expect to be busier than usual.”  An electronic pill didpnser can address this problem "head on"

For more information vist lifesavingpillbox.com or send questions to info@lifeasvingpillbox.com

Troy Holbrook

MED-Q PILL BOX & PILL DISPENSER

Phoenix, AZ  85085