Return to search

The usability of personal digital assistants as prospective memory aids for medication adherence in young and older adults

Medication adherence is essential to retaining functional independence into older adulthood. In the experiment reported here, 25 older and 26 young adults were asked to learn to use medication adherence software supported by a personal digital assistant (PDA). In addition to completing a battery of cognitive tests, each participant?s PDA skill acquisition was assessed over time (i.e., during training, immediately following training, and after a delay). Consistent with previous research, older adults required longer to learn to use the PDA and committed more errors compared to younger adults. Cognitive predictors of PDA performance included spatial ability, perceptual speed, and particularly reading comprehension. Over time, age differences in PDA performance were reduced suggesting that older adults might benefit from the use of PDAs as prospective memory aids.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:NCSU/oai:NCSU:etd-07272004-232139
Date02 September 2004
CreatorsLanzolla, Vincent Rocco
ContributorsSharolyn Converse Lane, Michael S. Wogalter, Christopher B. Mayhorn
PublisherNCSU
Source SetsNorth Carolina State University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
Sourcehttp://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-07272004-232139/
Rightsunrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to NC State University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report.

Page generated in 0.0016 seconds