Table 2.

The association between the subjects characteristics and the adherence to prescribed drug therapy.

				Likelihood of adherence
	Patient characteristics	n	%	Drugs OR (CI)	Likelihood of adherence Dose OR (CI)	Regimen OR (CI)
Gender	Males	150	43	1.5 (0.7–2.9) NS	0.7 (0.4–1.3) NS	0.8 (0.5–1.4) NS
	Females	198	57
Living arrangement	Living with spouse	173	50	0.8 (0.4–1.6) NS	2.0 (1.1–3.5)*	1.3 (0.8–2.2) NS
	Living alone	175	50
Number of years	More than 10 years	25	7	0.7 (0.5–1.1) NS	1.0 (0.7–1.5) NS	0.9 (0.6–1.3) NS
in school	8–10 years	111	32
	7 years or less	212	61
Number of prescribing	Only one	184	56	2.5 (1.3–4.8)**	1.0 (0.6–1.8) NS	1.2 (0.7–1.9) NS
physicians	More than one	145	44
Dementia	No	327	96	3.0 (0.9–10.8) NS	3.3 (0.7–16.1) NS	9.0 (1.1–72.5)*
(MMSE < 24)	Yes	15	4
Depression	No	324	94	0.5 (0.1–2.6) NS	1.7 (0.5–5.6) NS	1.3 (0.4–3.6) NS
(GDS > 6)	Yes	20	6
User of compliance aids	Yes	61	18	4.4 (1.6–12.3)**	1.2 (0.6–2.4) NS	1.5 (0.8–2.8) NS
	No	287	82
Number of drugs prescribed	Under 3	136	39	2.2 (1.2–4.1)*	2.3 (1.3–3.8)**	2.5 (1.5–4.1)**
	3 or more	212	61
Number of OTC drugs	Under 3	125	36	1.3 (0.7–2.3) NS	1.3 (0.8–2.2) NS	1.4 (0.8–2.2) NS
	3 or more	223	64
Alcohol consumption	None	166	48	0.6 (0.3–1.0) NS	0.8 (0.5–1.3) NS	0.9 (0.6–1.4) NS
	Not over the advisablea	166	48
	Over the advisablea	16	4

OR=Odds ratio. The OR is higher than 1 when adherence is associated with patient characteristics expected to facilitate adherence. CI = 95% confidence interval.

^athe advisable number of units weekly for males is 21 and for females 14 [19].

^*P < 0.05.

^**P < 0.01. NS P > 0.05.