title: Effects of nonadherence with prescription drugs among older adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the association between prescription nonadherence and the health of older adults with 1 or more of 5 chronic conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analysis of the correlation between prescription nonadherence and the health of older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were from a 7-year panel with information on healthcare encounters and prescriptions. We used fixed-effects Cox duration regression models and fixed-effects Poisson count regression models to control for time-invariant factors specific to each subject when examining the impact of nonadherence on time to an emergency department (ED) visit (Cox regression) or number of ED visits (Poisson count regression).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nonadherence was associated with subsequent ED visits for hypertension, chronic heart disease, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia. No significant short-term effects of nonadherence on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were detected. However, long-term effects of nonadherence (using the count regression model with lagged counts) were detected for COPD, as well as for hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Medicinal adherence was important for all 5 conditions analyzed here. A year of nonadherence had the same correlation with ED use as making an older adult 1 year older.
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, Brigham Young University, 183 FOB, Provo, UT 84602, USA. richard_butler@byu.edu
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: Taylor K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: William G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Harold H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Gardner
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001130:Arizona; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare; D008875:Middle Aged; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D014481:United States; D016903:Drug Monitoring
chemical_list: D055553:Prescription Drugs