Failure to access prescribed pharmaceuticals by older patients with chronic conditions.

ConclusionsAs for statins, the main financial determinant of adherence is cost in the form of prescribed copayments, suggesting that this may apply across many medications.What is known about the topic?Previous studies have shown patients' concern about the costs of pharmaceuticals, and more detailed studies of statins show that the lowest adherence relates to patients facing the highest copayments.What does this paper add?This paper provides support for the contention that the results found for statins broadly apply across more medications used by people with chronic conditions.What are the implications for practitioners?Although practitioners cannot affect legislated copayments, they can consider the costs of options for medications for patients with chronic conditions, especially those general patients who have not reached the safety net, and they can be aware that patients from homes where English is not spoken and patients with high levels of psychological distress are also likely to have low adherence without intervention. PMID: 30827330 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Australian Health Review - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research