Medication adherence in low income elderly type-2 diabetes patients: A retrospective cohort study

Patel, I.; Chang, J.; Shenolikar, R.A.; Balkrishnan, R.

doi:10.1016/j.ijdm.2010.05.003

« Previous Next »International Journal of Diabetes Mellitus
Volume 2, Issue 2 , Pages 122-124, August 2010

Medication adherence in low income elderly type-2 diabetes patients: A retrospective cohort study

I. Patel
- Clinical, Social and Administrative Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, 428 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1065, USA
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 734 936 1505; fax: +1 734 615 8171.
- Both the authors have contributed equally to the project.
J. Chang
- Clinical, Social and Administrative Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, 428 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1065, USA
- Both the authors have contributed equally to the project.
- Tel.: +1 734 936 1505; fax: +1 734 615 8171.
R.A. Shenolikar
- Health Management Innovations, GlaxoSmithKline, 5 Moore Drive, Durham, NC 27709, USA
- Tel.: +1 919 483 8980; fax: +1 989 483 0611.
R. Balkrishnan
- Center for Medication Use, Policy, and Economics, The University of Michigan, 428 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1065, USA
- Department of Clinical, Social and Administrative Sciences, The University of Michigan, 428 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1065, USA
- Department of Health Management and Policy, The University of Michigan, 428 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1065, USA
- Tel.: +1 734 764 7203; fax: +1 734 615 8171.

Received 8 April 2010; accepted 8 May 2010. published online 21 June 2010.

Abstract

The study objective was to determine the age associated medication adherence among low income type-2 diabetes patients enrolled in Medicaid. This was a retrospective cohort study consisting of patients aged 18–44years (n=681), 45–64years (n=2327) and 65+ years (n=161), respectively newly starting antidiabetic medication between July 2001 and June 2002. Medication adherence was measured as medication possession ratio using prescription refill patterns. Multiple regression analyzes showed that compared to age group 18–44years, age groups 65+ and 44–64years had significantly higher adherence rate by 13.4% and 12.5%, respectively. Better oral antidiabetic medication adherence was associated with increased age.