Instruments Assessing Capacity to Manage Medications

Abstract

Five instruments that measure medication management capacity should be compared for potential further use, including Beckman's tasks, due to their brevity and assessment of numeracy literacy; the Medication Management Ability Assessment, Drug Regimen Unassisted Grading Scale, and Hopkins Medication Schedule because of the evidence supporting their use; and the Medication Management Instrument for Deficiencies in the Elderly because it includes an assessment of the patient's knowledge of how to obtain more medications. No brief tool is available for the primary care setting to identify individuals with medication management problems or to guide the type and amount of support required to manage medications.