This study investigated the relationship of prescriptive medication adherence risk factors in community dwelling elderly as a prelude to mild cognitive impairment, and examined factors in functional difficulties in independence activities of daily living versus risk factors to medication adherence. Participants were administered the Folstein Mini-Mental State Exam, the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, and the Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living for comparison between those participants who demonstrated difficulties in adherence to prescriptive medication at home and not previously met clinical criteria for cognitive impairment and those who successfully maintained adherence and without cognitive impairment. Differences in performance on psychometric scales between a study and control group of elderly participants resulted in reported lower cognitive scores in the study group. The findings of this study are important in terms of recognizing memory complaints of older adults that are not usually reported to their physician as well as identifying a group of individuals at high risk for developing dementia and who may benefit from preventative measures.