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Older Adults' Understanding Of Cardiovascular Risk And Preventive Medication Benefit, Elizabeth R. Wahl

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

Medication decision making in older adults with multiple chronic conditions is complicated; communication between patients and physicians to establish concordant treatment goals can enhance this process. While patients' ability to make informed decisions about treatment priorities depends on their ability to understand the risks and benefits of medications and the likelihood of disease outcomes, patients' knowledge of medication-related benefits is unexplored. We examined older adults' estimation of their 10-year risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke, and the degree to which they thought common medications were able to prevent these outcomes. 150 male veterans age 65 or older and taking …