title: Medication assistance programs: do all in need benefit equally?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine if medication assistance programs (MAPs) provided by pharmaceutical companies were used differently by African Americans and Whites.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey was conducted among patients of primary care practices from 2005 to 2007 within the Alabama Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID) Patient Safety Study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Telephone survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Respondents were 568 African American and White patients reporting annual household incomes < $50,000.
  
  
  METHODS
  Use of MAPs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of all patients, 12.8% used MAPs, 39.5% were African American, 75.2% were female, 69.1% were aged > 65 years, 79.8% had annual household incomes < $25,000, and 35.5% indicated that their income was inadequate to meet their basic needs. MAPs were used by 11.2% African-Americans and 14.0% Whites. After multivariable adjustment, MAP use was higher among respondents with incomes not adequate to meet basic needs (odds ratio [OR]: 2.19, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17-4.08) but lower among African Americans than Whites (OR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.25-0.95). Physician characteristics did not independently predict MAP use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall MAP use was low even among the most vulnerable, and especially among African Americans. As currently used, MAPs may contribute to disparities in medication access.
authors.affiliation: The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Deep South Musculoskeletal Center for Research and Education in Therapeutics, Division of Preventive Medicine, 1530 3rd Ave South, MT 628, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-4410, USA. mpisu@uab.edu
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pisu
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Crenshaw
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Funkhouser
authors.forename: Midge
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.forename: Catarina I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Kiefe
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saag
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: LaCivita
authors.forename: Jeroan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Allison
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D000407:Alabama; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000191:economics*; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000191:economics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000208:ethnology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data