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Analysis of a Community Pharmacy Intervention to Improve Low Adherence Rates to Oral Diabetes Medications
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Analysis of a Community Pharmacy Intervention to Improve Low Adherence Rates to Oral Diabetes Medications

Jerica Singleton, Stevie Veach, Christine Catney and Matthew Witry
Pharmacy, Vol.5(4), p.58
10/19/2017
DOI: 10.3390/pharmacy5040058
PMCID: PMC5748539
PMID: 29048348
url
https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy5040058View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

For patients with diabetes, suboptimal medication adherence contributes to disease progression, complications, and increased healthcare costs. Identification of, and intervention for patient-identified reasons for nonadherence are essential to improving medication adherence. This prospective, quality improvement study was conducted at an independent community pharmacy in the Mid-West United States. Patients with a proportion of days covered (PDC) for their oral antidiabetic medications of less than 80% were contacted by telephone and interviewed by a clinical pharmacist. The interviews and corresponding adherence interventions were guided by an abbreviated version of the Drug Adherence Work-Up (DRAW©) tool that focused on oral medications for diabetes. The change in PDC 120-days post-interview was assessed to determine the change in adherence rates. Patients receiving the pharmacist-delivered adherence intervention had significantly higher 120 day PDC values which are likely to indicate more regular medication-taking at home. Almost half of study patients signed up for medication synchronization and these patients trended toward higher PDC values, although the relative difference was not statistically significant from those receiving the intervention and not opting to have their medications synchronized.
 Diabetes medication adherence proportion of days covered

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