Purpose
We aimed to clarify the differences in medication self-management for older adults supported by nurses at hospitals and home-visit nursing stations.
Methods
We conducted a questionnaire survey for nurses working in randomly selected hospitals and home-visit nursing stations. We examined the background of the nurses and the medication self-management of older adults supported by them. We divided the affiliations of nurses into hospital and home groups.
Results
Data were obtained from the responses of 728 nurses. In older adults, the percentage of age composition between hospital and home groups for those aged ≥85 was 21.5% and 35.8%, the average number of medications taken was 6.6 and 8.4, and the percentage of those using neuropsychiatric medications was 36.0% and 63.3% at hospitals and homes, respectively. Also, no significant difference was observed in the form of medication and the number of times the medication was taken daily. Regarding the medication support system, although, no significant difference was observed in the family support, the support rate from pharmacists  was significantly higher in the hospital group.
Conclusion
In older adults supported by home-visit nurses, the age, number of medications taken, and use of neuropsychiatric medications were significantly higher, and the support rate from pharmacists was low. Therefore, medication self-management by older adults at home is more challenging. Home-visit nurses need to work with pharmacists to assess the risk of improper prescription and overdose.