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Streamlined approach leads more to take drugs as prescribed, study finds By Robert Preidt
THURSDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Using mail-order pharmacies makes it easier for people to stick with their doctor's prescribed medication regimens, a new study suggests. Researchers analyzed medication refill data from 2006 and 2007 from 13,922 people with diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Good adherence was defined as having prescribed medication on hand at least 80 percent of the time. People who ordered their medications by mail were more likely to take them as prescribed by their doctors than were people who bought their medications at local pharmacies -- 84.7 percent vs. 76.9 percent, the study found. The results were consistent for medications used to control diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Among the other findings:
"The field of medication adherence research typically focuses on patient factors for poor adherence, leading to a 'blame-the-patient' approach for non-adherence," the lead researcher, Dr. O. Kenrik Duru, an assistant professor in the division of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, said in a university news release. "Our work helps to place this issue in a larger perspective," Duru said. "Our findings indicate that mail-order pharmacies streamline the medication acquisition process, which is associated with better medication adherence." The study appears online in the American Journal of Managed Care. More information The U.S. National Health Information Center offers advice on the safe use of medicines. SOURCE: University of California, Los Angeles, news release, Jan. 13, 2010 Copyright © 2010 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved. URL:http://www.healthscout.com/template.asp?id=634940
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