Obesity is pandemic in Western society. Currently, approximately 100 million Americans are overweight (body mass index >25 kg/m(2) ) or obese (body mass index >30 kg/m(2) ). The pandemic is largely attributable to the relatively recent (from an evolutionary perspective) adoption of a sedentary lifestyle, coupled with the high availability of foods ...

To review the literature on medication adherence for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in Hispanics. Improving adherence to medication regimen could reduce the likelihood of further tuberculosis resistance. A literature review searched for studies of medication adherence in Hispanics in the United States. Data on study purpose, design, population description, method ...

Objective: The authors characterized pre- and postnatal risk factors for ADHD among a population-based sample of 8-year-old children followed since birth (N = 604). Method: Parents and teachers rated ADHD symptoms, including inattention and impulsivity/hyperactivity. The authors reviewed pediatric medical records for history of an ADHD diagnosis, and parents reported ...

Medication error is an issue that no hospital is immune from, leading to 7,000 deaths and 1.3 million patient injuries each year. The purpose of this study was to decrease the risk and occurrence of medication errors by analyzing the hospital pharmacy. Task analyses were performed and it was found ...

An observational study was performed on 2 wards in a tertiary hospital to determine staff awareness, knowledge, and documentation of catheter use and the effects these have on duration of catheterization. Overall, there was poor knowledge of the indications and date of catheterization. Doctor awareness decreases duration of catheterization.

Stress, substance use and medication beliefs are among the most frequently cited barriers to HIV treatment adherence. This study used longitudinal techniques to examine the temporal relationship between these barriers and adherence among clients attending treatment adherence support programs in New York State. A total of 4,155 interview pairs were ...

Medication adherence is critical for patients with bipolar disorder to avoid symptom exacerbation and diminished quality of life. Most analyses consider adherence barriers individually rather than conjointly, while neglecting potential ethnic differences. 435 patients in the Continuous Improvement for Veterans in Care--Mood Disorders study reported multiple financial and psychosocial factors ...

Little is known about the associations between depressive symptoms, social support and antihypertensive medication adherence in older adults. We evaluated the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms, social support and antihypertensive medication adherence in a large cohort of older adults. A cohort of 2,180 older adults with hypertension was ...

It is widely acknowledged that compliance and persistence with oral osteoporosis medications, particularly with bisphosphonates, is poor. Several excellent reviews have been written on compliance and persistence with osteoporosis medications and have discussed improvements seen with extended dosing intervals. This review begins with studies on extended dosing intervals to examine ...

Complex medication regimens are often required to manage cardiovascular diseases. As non-adherence, which can have severe negative outcomes, is common among cardiovascular patients, various interventions to improve adherence should be implemented in daily practice. To assess which strategies cardiovascular nurses and allied health professionals utilize to (1) assess patients' adherence ...

Russell C, Conn V, Ashbaugh C, Madsen R, Wakefield M, Webb A, Coffey D, Peace L. Taking immunosuppressive medications effectively (TIMELink): a pilot randomized controlled trial in adult kidney transplant recipients. Clin Transplant 2011: 25: 864-870. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Abstract:  Background:  Immunosuppressive medication non-adherence is one ...

Medication adherence among patients with epilepsy remains a significant challenge, even for patients prescribed newer antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), leading to increased risks of seizures, hospitalizations, and higher treatment costs. Despite substantial research identifying numerous risk factors, the role of specific medications has been neglected. To analyze adherence to 9 different ...

A large value-based insurance design program offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina eliminated generic medication copayments and reduced copayments for brand-name medications. Our study showed that the program improved adherence to medications for diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and congestive heart failure. We found that adherence improved for enrollees, ...

Successful kidney transplantation continues to be associated with an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Treatment for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia adds to the pre-existing medication burden of immunosuppression. We postulated that patients are selectively adherent, preferentially taking some medications and choosing not to take others. To test this ...

Older adults' adherence to antihypertensive medications is far lower than what is considered necessary for clinical effectiveness, despite the risks for adverse cardiovascular events from uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) in the elderly. This pilot study tested a novel 8-week behavioral feedback intervention to improve antihypertensive medication adherence (MA) and BP ...

To determine whether limited transportation affects medication adherence in patients with epilepsy. Descriptive, nonexperimental, cross-sectional study. United States and worldwide, February to April 2007. 143 patients with epilepsy. A 22-item survey was developed to ask patients with epilepsy or their caregivers about the impact of limited transportation on adherence with ...

To determine the association between adherence to universal precaution (UP) and avoidance attitudes toward patients living with HIV/AIDS (PLH) among service providers. DATA SOURCES/SETTING: A total of 1,760 health service providers were randomly selected from 40 county hospitals in two provinces of China. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect ...

Objectives: We have developed an instrument that provides the physician structured information about medication use and patients' (non-)adherence. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of this instrument on adherence and medication beliefs in outpatients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: In this within-subject controlled prospective cohort study, 50 outpatients were ...

Venous thromboembolic disease (VTED) prophylaxis is a key strategy in reducing preventable deaths in medical inpatients. We assessed compliance with internationally published guidelines for VTED prophylaxis in at-risk medical patients before and 1 month after an educational intervention to enhance compliance with such guidelines. One hundred and fifty patients were assessed ...

Non-adherence to antidepressant medications is a contributing factor to disease relapse and may result in needless increases in antidepressant dosing. We analyzed de-identified patient claims data from Medco Health Solutions, Inc.'s information database and measured adherence as the medication possession ratio (MPR), with adequate adherence as MPR ≥80%. Adherence was ...

This study explored the level of antihypertensive medication adherence and examined certain demographic attributes and influential factors in relation to antihypertensive medication nonadherence among Chinese American elders using a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. Findings revealed that 52% of the elderly Chinese Americans adhered to their antihypertensive medications. Gender, education, years ...

The objective of this study was to examine the impact of reducing the prescription co-pay for diabetes medications on pharmacy utilization, medication adherence, medical utilization, and expenditures. The co-pay reduction involved placing all diabetic drugs and testing supplies on the lowest co-pay tier for one employer group. The sample comprised ...

Studies investigating medication adherence in psychosis are limited by the need of a certain degree of medication adherence and the inclusion of mostly multiple-episode patients. By contrast, noninformed consent, epidemiological studies in first-episode psychosis (FEP) allow the assessment of an important subgroup of patients who persistently refuse antipsychotic medication and ...

While several studies have examined adherence to controller medications for the treatment of COPD, few systematic reviews have taken the translational step to identifying important and necessary areas for further research. The objective of this study was to review data on the outcomes of adherence to various controller therapies in ...

OBJECTIVE: Antihypertensive medications are important in the prevention of serious consequences of hypertension, such as stroke and heart failure. Up to one-third of elderly hypertensive patients, however, do not adhere to their medication. Adherence to medication decreases with increasing age, and with decreasing cognitive ability, thus elderly, cognitively-impaired patients have ...

In this study, we examined antidepressant (fluoxetine) medication adherence in children and adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD). Using electronic monitoring (EM) as the "reference standard," we compared various methods of measuring antidepressant medication adherence (including EM, pill counts, and medication diaries) among children and adolescents with MDD and examined ...

We developed a clinical prediction rule score to predict medication non-adherence for women prescribed osteoporosis treatment. When combined into a summative score, 62% with seven or more points on the score demonstrated very low adherence. This compares with 17% subjects with fewer than seven points (c-statistic = 0.74). Medication non-adherence is extremely ...

Objective  To identify self-reported reasons why adults with chronic disease do not fill a new prescription (medication non-fulfillment) and/or stop taking a medication without their physician telling them to do so (lack of medication persistence). Methods  Participants were sampled in 2008 from a national, internet-based panel of American adults with ...

Failure to adhere to medication regimens can lead to unnecessary disease progression, disease complications, reduced functional abilities, lower quality of life, and even death. Medication adherence for children taking psychotropic agents poses many special challenges for health care professionals, as there is a little empirical basis for improving adherence. In ...

To translate and examine the psychometric properties of the Malaysian version of the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS) among patients with type 2 diabetes. A standard "forward-backward" procedure was used to translate MMAS into Malay language. It was later validated on a convenience sample of 223 type 2 diabetes outpatients ...

Although the complexity of treatment regimens for patients with heart failure (HF) has increased over time because of the increased availability of efficacious medications, little is known about temporal trends in adherence to treatment regimens in these patients. We assessed trends in adherence to angiotensin-system blockers (ABs), β-blockers (BBs), and ...

Despite the high percentage of incarcerated persons with mental illness, surprisingly little is known about effective ways to increase psychotropic medication adherence in prison and upon release. Currently, there are limited definitive data regarding psychotropic medication adherence patterns among incarcerated persons, and the data that exist often miss specific information ...

The purpose of this study was to identify medication adherence for patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) referred to an interdisciplinary HCV education and monitoring service, evaluate changes in quality of life (QOL) and medication adherence during the first 3 months of HCV therapy, and determine relationships between adherence ...

Participatory decision making (PDM) is associated with improved diabetes control. We examine a causal model linking PDM to improved clinical outcomes that included patient activation and medication adherence. This observational study was conducted in 5 family physician offices. Diabetic patients were recruited by mail and by completing a study interest ...

To explore influences on adherence to taking long-term medications among Samoan patients in an Auckland general practice. Twenty Samoan participants from an Auckland general practice were identified and interviewed about their views on adherence or non-adherence to taking blood pressure-lowering medications. One-to-one semi-structured interviews using open-ended questions were undertaken in ...

Control of hypertension remains poor, and lack of adherence to medication is considered a primary reason. Few studies have examined the reasons for medication nonadherence in African American, lower-income, rural adults receiving medications at no personal cost. Moreover, our understanding of how the provider-patient relationship influences adherence in this population ...

Rationale: An acute-care visit for asthma often signals a management failure. Although a written action plan is effective when combined with self-management education and regular medical review, its independent value remains controversial. Objectives: We examined the efficacy of providing a written action plan coupled with a prescription (WAP-P) to improve ...

Objective:  To examine and compare medication adherence and direct healthcare costs between duloxetine and pregabalin initiators among patients with fibromyalgia. Methods:  A retrospective analysis of commercially insured fibromyalgia patients aged 18 to 64 was conducted among those who initiated duloxetine or pregabalin between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006. ...

To examine factors associated with adolescent and parent-reported adherence to prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications in a cross-sectional sample of youth with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Ninety adolescents and their parents completed measures of medication adherence and disease, individual, and family factors while attending an outpatient gastroenterology appointment. Longer time ...

Objectives Personality factors parsimoniously capture the variation in dispositional characteristics that affect behaviours, but their value in predicting medication non-adherence is unclear. We investigated the relationship between five-factor model personality factors (Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Openness) and medication non-adherence among older participants during a six-year randomized placebo-controlled trial (RCT). ...

This paper is a report of an examination of the psychometric properties of the HIV Medication Taking Self-efficacy Scale. Self-efficacy is a critically important component of strategies to improve HIV medication-taking; however, valid and reliable tools for assessing HIV medication-taking self-efficacy are limited. We used a cross-sectional, correlational design. Between ...

This pilot study examined the impact of a hospital transition intervention for older adults (≥ 65 years of age) with heart failure (HF) to promote medication use self-management. Forty subjects, hospitalized with either primary or secondary HF, had a mean age of 76.9 ± 6.5 years; 65% were males. The ...

As clinical pathway adoption continues worldwide, it is necessary to establish adherence measurement methods in order to understand the difficulties and results of implementation. Adherence measurement literature mostly provides binary measurements of adherence to guidelines regarding individual medical activities over patient groups. The resulting measurements are of limited value in ...

Patients' lay views of illness are influential on adherence to therapeutic regimes. However, factors associate with non-adherence are not examined simultaneously. The purpose of the study was to test a hypothetical model of the relationships between illness perception and adherence to prescribed medication and self-management recommendations of hypertensive patients based ...

Nonadherence in kidney transplant recipients was evaluated in this report using a questionnaire with five binary questions and one question on a continuous scale. Study participants at the University of Utah Transplant Program (n = 199) were 43.0 ± 14.2 years old; 67% were males, and 81% were White. Two ...

OBJECTIVES: Treatment effectiveness depends upon administering medications as prescribed, and adherence is critical for Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients to receive optimal benefit from therapy. The objective of this study was to investigate factors associated with adherence to AD oral medications. METHODS: This retrospective claims analysis identified AD patients who initiated ...

Evaluating medication adherence in Parkinson's disease (PD) is important to avoid erroneously attributing suboptimal patient outcomes from poor compliance to disease progression or adverse responses to medications. This study of patients with PD who were new to PD drug therapy examined patient compliance and persistence, by drug, to provide a ...

BACKGROUND: The Medical Morning Handover Report is a form of clinical handover and is considered to be an essential mechanism for continuity of care and adverse event minimisation within a hospital environment. It is considered a significant Quality of Care activity recommended in Australian Medical Association clinical handover guidelines. The ...

Psychotropic medication initiation and adherence is an identified problem. This literature review explores factors that determine families' decisions to initiate, sustain, or discontinue use of psychotropic medication in children and adolescents. Social exchange theory is used as a framework to explore decisions to initiate and adhere to psychotropic medications. Contributing ...

This paper situates medication adherence among adolescents in current cultural and political-economic debates about compliance/adherence and the formation of biomedical subjectivities. Building on prior work of the authors, this paper explores the role of desire in adherence to show how subjectivities are shaped by concordant, instrumental, or conditional forms of ...