TY - JOUR
T1 - One in 3 prescriptions are never redeemed
T2 - primary nonadherence in an outpatient clinic
AU - Storm, Andreas
AU - Andersen, Stig Ejdrup
AU - Benfeldt, Eva
AU - Serup, Jørgen
PY - 2008/7
Y1 - 2008/7
N2 - BACKGROUND: Despite being essential to medication adherence, redemption of initial prescriptions (ie, primary adherence) has been investigated only sparsely.OBJECTIVES: The objectives were to determine the frequency and risk factors for primary nonadherence among outpatients with dermatologic conditions.METHODS: Every 15th day during 2006, all patients receiving a prescription for an initial treatment with a previously untried medication were studied. Redemptions were traced in an electronic register after 4 weeks. Exclusions were a result of identical treatments within the last 6 months or hospitalizations within 4 weeks.RESULTS: In all, 30.7% of the 322 eligible patients did not collect their medication. Patients with psoriasis were least adherent with nearly 50% of the prescriptions being unredeemed.LIMITATIONS: Only initial prescriptions for previously untried medications issued to hospital outpatients were studied.CONCLUSIONS: For the clinician, primary nonadherence is an essential differential diagnosis when a given therapy fails.
AB - BACKGROUND: Despite being essential to medication adherence, redemption of initial prescriptions (ie, primary adherence) has been investigated only sparsely.OBJECTIVES: The objectives were to determine the frequency and risk factors for primary nonadherence among outpatients with dermatologic conditions.METHODS: Every 15th day during 2006, all patients receiving a prescription for an initial treatment with a previously untried medication were studied. Redemptions were traced in an electronic register after 4 weeks. Exclusions were a result of identical treatments within the last 6 months or hospitalizations within 4 weeks.RESULTS: In all, 30.7% of the 322 eligible patients did not collect their medication. Patients with psoriasis were least adherent with nearly 50% of the prescriptions being unredeemed.LIMITATIONS: Only initial prescriptions for previously untried medications issued to hospital outpatients were studied.CONCLUSIONS: For the clinician, primary nonadherence is an essential differential diagnosis when a given therapy fails.
KW - Adult
KW - Denmark/epidemiology
KW - Drug Prescriptions/statistics & numerical data
KW - Female
KW - Health Care Costs
KW - Humans
KW - Insurance, Health/economics
KW - Male
KW - Middle Aged
KW - Outpatients/statistics & numerical data
KW - Patient Acceptance of Health Care/statistics & numerical data
KW - Patient Compliance/statistics & numerical data
KW - Risk Factors
KW - Skin Diseases/drug therapy
KW - Treatment Refusal
U2 - 10.1016/j.jaad.2008.03.045
DO - 10.1016/j.jaad.2008.03.045
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 18467003
SN - 0190-9622
VL - 59
SP - 27
EP - 33
JO - Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
JF - Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
IS - 1
ER -