Impact of Nonadherence
Medication adherence is one of the most important and challenging issues facing healthcare professionals and their patients today.
Nonadherence is a costly problem
- At least 50% of patients do not benefit optimally from their medications, and nonadherence plays a significant role.1
- Each year, medication nonadherence leads to:
- 33% to 69% of medication-related hospital admissions2
- 23% of all nursing home admissions3,4
- $100 billion in direct and indirect medical costs3,4
- Increased use of expensive, specialized medical resources5
- Unneeded medication changes6,7
- Unexplained treatment failures5
- Repeat office visits4,5,8-10
References:
- Gottlieb H. Medication nonadherence: finding solutions to a costly medical problem. Drug Benefit Trends. 2000;12(6):57-62.
- Osterberg L, Blaschke T. Adherence to medication. N Engl J Med. 2005;353(5):487-497.
- Peterson AM, Takiya L, Finley R. Meta-analysis of trials of interventions to improve medication adherence. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2003;60(7):657-665.
- Noncompliance with medications: an economic tragedy with important implications for health care reform. Washington, DC: National Pharmaceutical Council; 1993.
- World Health Organization. Adherence to Long-term Therapies: Evidence for Action. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2003.
- Cramer JA. A systematic review of adherence with medications for diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2004;27(5):1218-1224.
- Dailey G, Kim MS, Lian JF. Patient compliance and persistence with antihyperglycemic drug regimens: evaluation of a Medicaid patient population with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Clin Ther. 2001;23(8):1311-1320.
- Hodgson P, Smith P, Brown T, Dowrick C. Stories from frequent attenders: a qualitative study in primary care. Ann Fam Med. 2005;3(4):318-323.
- Nichols-English G, Poirier S. Optimizing adherence to pharmaceutical care plans. J Am Pharm Assoc (Wash). 2000;40(4):475-485.
- Burrell CD, Levy RA. Therapeutic consequences of noncompliance: improving medication compliance. In: Proceedings of a symposium. Washington, DC: National Pharmaceutical Council; 1985:7-16.
