Patients' problems with new medication for chronic conditions.
OBJECTIVE
To assess patients' adherence to new medication for a chronic condition (and whether non-adherence was intentional), patients' problems with their medication, and their further information needs.


METHODS
A longitudinal survey with data collection at 10 days and 4 weeks was performed on 258 patients recruited from 23 community pharmacies in south east England. Patients were eligible to participate if they were starting a new chronic medication and were either 75 years or older or had one of the following chronic conditions: stroke, coronary heart disease, asthma, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis. At each time point a semi-structured telephone interview was conducted and a postal questionnaire was sent.


METHODS
Self-reported adherence, causes of non-adherence, problems with medication, information needs.


RESULTS
Sixty seven (30%) of 226 patients still taking their medication at 10 days and 43 of 171 (25%) still taking their medication at 4 weeks were non-adherent. At 10 days 55% of the non-adherence was unintentional and the remainder was intentional; these proportions were similar at 4 weeks. 138 of 208 (66%) participants still taking their new medication at 10 days reported at least one problem with it. 137 of 226 patients (61%) expressed a substantial and sustained need for further information at 10 days and 88 of 171 (51%) at 4 weeks. Several patients who were adherent or reported no problems at 10 days were non-adherent or had problems at 4 weeks.


CONCLUSIONS
A significant proportion of patients newly started on a chronic medication quickly become non-adherent, often intentionally so. Many have problems with their medication and information needs. Patients need more support when starting on new medication for a chronic condition and new services may be required to provide this.
Barber
N
N
Department of Practice and Policy, The School of Pharmacy, 29/39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX. nick.barber@ulsop.ac.uk
Parsons
J
J
Clifford
S
S
Darracott
R
R
Horne
R
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004346:Drug Information Services; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010594:Pharmacies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires