9/24/2021 Weekly Newsletter – Take you Medicine, why we do not!
By Mason Colvin. 5 Minute Read
Take your Medicine
When patients don’t take their medications as prescribed is unfortunately fairly common. Most non adherence is intentional with patients making a rational decision not to take their medicine based on their knowledge, experience and beliefs. Being diligent with taking your medications has proven to reduce adverse actions, lower hospitalization rates, and increase quality of life.
One study suggests unintentional non-adherence does not appear to be random and is predicted by medication beliefs, chronic disease, and socio-demographics.
A Cochrane Study suggests Patients who are prescribed medicines take only about half of their doses and many stop treatment entirely. Also, It is uncertain how medicine adherence can consistently be improved so that the full health benefits of medicines can be realized.
Why do people choose not to take medicine?
These are the top five reasons for intentional non adherence.
- Fear
Patients may be frightened of potential side effects. They may have also experienced previous side effects with the same or similar medicine. How you can help yourself – Talk to your doctor or pharmacist as they can educate you on the potential side effects
2. Cost
A major barrier to adherence is often the cost of the medicine prescribed to the patient. How you can help yourself – Check your benefit plan, many plans offer discounts for generic version, mail order options or preferred pharmacies.
3. Misunderstanding
Non adherence can also happen when a patient does not understand the need for the medicine, the nature of side effects or the time it takes to see results How you can help yourself – Talk to your doctor or pharmacist as they will review how the dosage and frequency was determined.
4. Too many medications
When a patient has several different medicines prescribed with higher dosing frequency, the chances that they are non adherent increase. How you can help yourself – Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about different options.
5. Lack of symptoms
As stated above, non adherence might occur when there is a lack of symptoms. Patients who don’t feel any different when they start or stop their medicine might see no reason to take it. How to help yourself – Be disciplined, understand that the medication was prescribed with a specific dosage and frequency.
Sources
https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/patient-support-advocacy/8-reasons-patients-dont-take-their-medicationshttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22510235/https://
www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD000011.pub4/fullhttps://
www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/upshot/people-dont-take-their-pills-only-one-thing-seems-to-help.html