Aging, antiretrovirals, and adherence: a meta analysis of adherence among older HIV-infected individuals.

Introduction: Older adults are generally considered to be at greater risk for medication non-adherence due to factors such as medication complexity, side effects, cost, and cognitive decline. However, this generalization may not apply to older adults with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Regardless of age, suboptimal adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) can lead to increased viral load, immunosuppression, drug-resistant viral strains, co-morbidities, and opportunistic infections.

The anticholinergic risk scale and anticholinergic adverse effects in older persons.

Background: Adverse effects of anticholinergic medications may contribute to events such as falls, delirium, and cognitive impairment in older patients. To further assess this risk, we developed the Anticholinergic Risk Scale (ARS), a ranked categorical list of commonly prescribed medications with anticholinergic potential. The objective of this study was to determine if the ARS score could be used to predict the risk of anticholinergic adverse effects in a geriatric evaluation and management (GEM) cohort and in a primary care cohort.