{"id":6990,"date":"2021-01-26T09:48:41","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T14:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/?p=6990"},"modified":"2021-01-26T09:48:42","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T14:48:42","slug":"why-people-arent-taking-their-prescription-medications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/2021\/01\/26\/why-people-arent-taking-their-prescription-medications\/","title":{"rendered":"Why People Aren’t Taking Their Prescription Medications"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Experts estimate that up to 50 percent<\/a> of medications that physicians prescribe to their patients don\u2019t end up being taken as directed. At least 20 percent of the prescriptions aren\u2019t even filled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health policy insiders call this phenomenon\u2014patients not following their doctor\u2019s orders\u2014non-adherence, and it can be very costly. Non-adherence used to be called \u201cnoncompliance,\u201d and that term is still heard occasionally but implies a willful refusal to do what they should do, and health care providers are increasingly recognizing that outside factors are often to blame. A bus driver may not be able to drink eight glasses of water every day because she doesn\u2019t have access to regular bathroom breaks. A college student might not be able to follow a low-fat, low-salt diet eating in the school dining hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the aspects of non-adherence is when the patient doesn\u2019t take prescribed drugs according to the provider\u2019s instructions. This non-adherence leads to hospitalizations when chronic conditions flare up, and these hospitalizations cost the health care system between $100 billion and $289 billion<\/a> each year. Failure to follow prescriptions causes some 125,000 deaths a year and up to 10 percent of all hospitalizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medication non-adherence can have a number of causes: patients don\u2019t like the side effects, or their lack of symptoms makes them think they don\u2019t need the drugs anymore. People find it difficult to take a drug\u2014such as those to prevent the reoccurrence of breast cancer\u2014for years on end when they don\u2019t have any proof that they\u2019re working. Some people simply forget. While all of these are factors, there is one big reason people don\u2019t take their medications: cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pharmacists\u2014along with nurse practitioners and social workers\u2014are vital members of the health care team<\/a> and may be better able to help patients navigate these various assistance programs. Pharmacists are in a perfect position to know whether patients have been taking their pills regularly, and they can offer assistance when they see someone hasn\u2019t been filling their prescriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are a number of competing demands,\u201d Sharkey said. Rent is due, there are utilities to be paid to keep the lights on, and food so the kids don\u2019t go hungry\u2014all of these other obligations can get in the way of being able to buy medications. \u201cAny intervention has to take into account the larger context.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, research<\/a> seems to confirm that low income patients struggle more than average with medication adherence. Some of the problem may be pharmacy access: Transportation issues often keep customers without the use of a car from getting to good pharmacies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we see in South Texas is that resources ebb and flow,\u201d said Sharkey, who is also the founding director of the Program for Research and Outreach-Engagement on Nutrition and Health Disparities Solutions. \u201cSome months people can buy medications, and other months other bills need to be paid or they haven\u2019t gotten much work, and medications fall by the wayside.\u201d Even if they have medications in their cabinets, patients may be less likely to take them on schedule for fear of being unable to afford refills later. The Texas A&M Health Science Center Coastal Bend Health Education Center assists uninsured and underinsured South Texas residents<\/a> with their medication, but there is always more that can be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople will alternate days or cut pills in half\u2014anything to make the drugs last longer,\u201d Sharkey said. \u201cWe need to put better programs in place so they don\u2019t need to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

This article focuses on the cost aspect of medication non-adherence which is related to low health insurance literacy. The author discusses how pharmacists can serve as a vital role in explaining health insurance coverage and alternatives for patients who have cost concerns. Another important takeaway is pharmacy access. Transportation and other factors may make it hard for patients to access a pharmacy. For example, if they are working during the pharmacy hours and are unable to pickup their prescription. Some of the delivery options have tried to combat this issue, however there are literacy concerns within signing up for the delivery options as well. Overall, receiving and understanding medication is a very complicated process that is made up of multiple steps. Creating a better transfer of information and communication between all those involved may yield better medication adherence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experts estimate that up to 50 percent of medications that physicians prescribe to their patients don\u2019t end up being taken as directed. At least 20 percent of the prescriptions aren\u2019t even filled. Health policy insiders call this phenomenon\u2014patients not following their doctor\u2019s orders\u2014non-adherence, and it can be very costly. Non-adherence used to be called \u201cnoncompliance,\u201d and that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":6991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-focus"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6990"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6992,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6990\/revisions\/6992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}