An elderly patient is admitted to the hospital with cardiac complications associ

1 -- Decreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in the older adult also reduces the clearance of drugs excreted through the kidneys. This reduced clearance prolongs the half-life of drugs and may necessitate lower drug doses and longer dosing intervals. Common medications affected by decreased GFR include cardiac medications and anti-diabetic agents. Assessing the patient’s compliance with the prescribed dose is important in any circumstance but is not specific to this scenario. Use of vitamin supplements should be assessed, but is not specific to the situation described. The nurse might suspect noncompliance if the cost of medications is an issue.