Older adults' memory for medical information, effect of number and mode of presentation: An experimental study

•The lower the number of recommendations given, the higher is the recall.•Visual presentation does not enhance recall more than spoken presentation.•The recall percentage for lifestyle instruction was higher than that for medication.

ObjectiveTo analyze different ways of presenting medical information to older adults, tailoring the information and its presentation to the characteristics of memory function in old age.MethodsExperimental study. We took into account the following variables: amount of information, type of information and mode of presentation, and time delay.ResultsThe greater the number of recommendations, the lower the recall; visual presentation does not enhance verbal presentation; lifestyle information is recalled better than medication information; after ten minutes the percentage of memory decreases significantly; the first and last recommendations are better remembered.ConclusionAs a whole, these findings show that older adults remember more medical information when very few recommendations are provided in each session.Practice implicationsIt is inadvisable to overload older adults with a large amount of information: It is better to program more consultations and provide less information.