title: Oral anticancer agent medication adherence by outpatients.
abstract: In the present study, medication adherence and factors affecting adherence were examined in patients taking oral anticancer agents. In June 2013, 172 outpatients who had been prescribed oral anticancer agents by Ogaki Municipal Hospital (Ogaki, Gifu, Japan) completed a questionnaire survey, with answers rated on a five-point Likert scale. The factors that affect medication adherence were evaluated using a customer satisfaction (CS) analysis. For patients with good and insufficient adherence to medication, the median ages were 66 years (range, 21-85 years) and 73 years (range, 30-90 years), respectively (P=0.0004), while the median dosing time was 131 days (range, 3-3,585 days) and 219 days (24-3,465 days), respectively (P=0.0447). In 36.0% (62 out of 172) of the cases, there was insufficient medication adherence; 64.5% of those cases (40 out of 62) showed good medication compliance (4-5 point rating score). However, these patients did not fully understand the effects or side-effects of the drugs, giving a score of three points or less. The percentage of patients with good medication compliance was 87.2% (150 out of 172). Through the CS analysis, three items, the interest in the drug, the desire to consult about the drug and the condition of the patient, were extracted as items for improvement. Overall, the medication compliance of the patients taking the oral anticancer agents was good, but the medication adherence was insufficient. To improve medication adherence, a better understanding of the effectiveness and necessity of drugs and their side-effects is required. In addition, the interest of patients in their medication should be encouraged and intervention should be tailored to the condition of the patient. These steps should lead to improved medication adherence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Ogaki Municipal Hospital, Ogaki, Gifu, Japan.
authors.forename: Michio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Ogaki Municipal Hospital, Ogaki, Gifu, Japan.
authors.forename: Eiseki
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Usami
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Ogaki Municipal Hospital, Ogaki, Gifu, Japan.
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iwai
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Ogaki Municipal Hospital, Ogaki, Gifu, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshiya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Ogaki Municipal Hospital, Ogaki, Gifu, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Ogaki Municipal Hospital, Ogaki, Gifu, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacy Practice and Social Science, Gifu Pharmaceutical University, Gifu, Japan.
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacy, Gifu Pharmaceutical University, Gifu, Japan.
authors.forename: Hitomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Teramachi
keywords: adherence; compliance; customer satisfaction; oral anticancer agent