Outcomes of a Problem-Solving Medication Management Intervention for Informal Caregivers.

The sample was small and fairly homogeneous: 83 mostly White, well-educated, married, retired caregivers with long medication-management experience, so results may not apply to caregivers with less experience or greater burden. Care recipients had memory loss, but MMSE scores ranged from 0 to 30, so some may have had normal cognitive function. Both groups received medication reconciliation and repeated questions about medication management, so improvement could reflect attention rather than the problem-solving intervention. Medication management and health care utilization were measured by self-report, and two instruments were investigator-developed or adapted; the Medication Deficiency Checklist had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.40 in this sample. Caregivers started with few medication errors and relatively high self-efficacy (7.1 ± 2.1), so there was little room to show improvement. The physical HRQoL interaction was a secondary outcome, and the authors said the changes were unlikely to demonstrate a change in quality of life. Caregiver comorbidities, changes in medications, and changes in care recipients' cognition were not assessed.

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The paper is listed as supported by NIH extramural research.

Do not read the decrease in medication deficiencies as proof that the problem-solving intervention worked. The decrease occurred in both groups, and the primary outcome had no significant group-by-time interaction.