Elders who delay medication because of cost: health insurance, demographic, health, and financial correlates.
OBJECTIVE
Prescription medication use is essential to the health and well-being of many elderly persons. However, the cost of medications may be prohibitive and contribute to noncompliance with medical recommendations. This study identifies community-dwelling elders who reported a delay in medication use because of prescription medication cost.


METHODS
This was a cross-sectional study of a nationwide sample of 6,535 elders participating in the Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) study. Participants reported if they had taken less medication than prescribed or if they had not filled prescriptions because of cost in the past 2 years. This response was then compared with the self-report of multiple variables, including demographic, health status, health insurance coverage, and financial variables.


RESULTS
Elders who were most vulnerable to medication delay as a result of cost included those with Medicare coverage only, low income, high out-of-pocket prescription costs, and poor health as well as African American elders and those aged 65-80 years.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides important information about community-dwelling elders that reported a delay in medication use because of cost. As a Medicare prescription benefit has been passed, it will be important to monitor how these changes affect the elders identified at risk for medication delay.
Klein
Dawn
D
Psychiatry Research-MEB, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1000, USA. dawn-m-klein@uiowa.edu
Turvey
Carolyn
C
Wallace
Robert
R
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005252:Fees, Pharmaceutical; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007356:Insurance, Pharmaceutical Services; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010349:Patient Compliance; D012646:Self Administration / Q000191:economics*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States