Edelberg et al developed the Drug Regimen Unassisted Grading Scale (DRUGS) for evaluating the ability of an older adult to self-manage medications. The authors are from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School.
Preparation: each medication that a patient takes on the study day and its dosage schedule is tabulated by the observer for reference. This includes prn medications.
For each medication that a patient takes, the following competencies are assessed:
(1) the patient's ability to identify the appropriate medication
(2) the patient's ability to access the container
(3) the patient's ability to dispense the correct amount for each dose
(4) the patient's ability to demonstrate the appropriate timing for the daily dose
Each ability is scored 1 if the patient is able to perform, else 0. The subscore for a single drug is the sum of these 4 items, so ranges from 0 to 4.
patient total score =
= SUM(subscores for all medications taken)
total maximum score =
= (number of medications taken per day) * 4.
summary score =
= (patient total score) / (total maximum score) * 100%
Interpretation:
• minimum summary score: 0%
• maximum summary score: 100%
• The summary score can be tracked over time.
