Abstract
Older adults, the primary consumers of prescription medications in the United States, may be particularly prone to medication side effects. The present study examined the relation between change in prescriptions and change in cognitive performance (i.e., inductive reasoning and everyday problem solving), as well as how three common classes of medication (i.e., cardiovascular, hormone/synthetic substitutes, and central nervous system agents) were related to cognitive performance. Data were collected from 78 community-dwelling older adults (M = 71.14 years, SD = 5.35) over an 18-month period. Results indicated that types of drugs were differentially related to cognitive change and that the total number of prescriptions was related to change in cognitive performance. Clinical and research advantages of using specific cognitive and prescription assessments, rather than more global measures, are discussed.