Background:

the aging of the population, the high incidence of chronic diseases and the prescription of a complex drug regimen requires knowledge and capacity for its effective and safe management. Polymedication, inherent to chronic health conditions, entails complications that may arise from the elderly people's inadequate knowledge about the management of the drug regimen.

Objective:

to characterize the knowledge about the medication regimen of the elderly.

Methodology:

quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive study. The sample consisted of 23 elderly people who attended day centers belonging to the municipalities of Vale de Cambra, São João da Madeira and Oliveira de Azeméis. Data collection was carried out through the questionnaire “Patient's knowledge about their medications” (CPM-PT-PT) adapted and validated for the Portuguese population by Rubio et al. (2014).

Results:

the level of knowledge of the elderly about medicines is sufficient in relation to the drug regimen. The dimension with the greatest knowledge is the “Usage Process”, however the knowledge in the “Safety” dimension is lower compared to the other dimensions.

Conclusion:

in view of the results, nursing interventions are needed to increase knowledge about the drug regimen, promoting health and preventing complications.