A Canadian study has found that almost one-third of patients never fill the prescriptions for the medicines they are told to take.
The analysis, published online in The Annals of Internal Medicine, was conducted in Quebec, where all residents are covered by health and drug insurance. There were 15,961 patients in the study.
Over all, 31.3 percent of prescriptions were never filled. But some types were filled more often than others. Prescriptions for headaches and migraines were filled more than half the time, but only 20 percent for bronchitis, and 25 percent for skin irritations. The more often a patient saw the doctor, the more likely the prescriptions would be filled, but medicines with high co-pays were less likely to be bought.
People under age 52 were much less likely to fill their prescriptions than older people, and men slightly less likely than women.
The lead author, Robyn Tamblyn, a professor of medicine at McGill University in Montreal, said the results sent several messages. First, the cost of drugs affects their use. Second, when patients are followed more closely by their doctors, they are more likely to take their medicine. And finally, she said, "chronic illness is the primary driver of ill health, and people who fill their prescriptions have a better rate of controlling their disease."
