| Cost-related medication underuse: Prevalence among hospitalized managed care patients. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 21972200 Owner: NLM Status: Publisher |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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BACKGROUND: The affordability of prescription medications continues to be a major public health issue in the United States. Estimates of cost-related medication underuse come largely from surveys of ambulatory patients. Hospitalized patients may be vulnerable to cost-related underuse and its consequences, but have been subject to little investigation. OBJECTIVE: To determine impact of medication costs in a cohort of hospitalized managed care beneficiaries. METHODS: We surveyed consecutive patients admitted to medical services at an academic medical center. Questions about cost-related underuse were based on validated measures; predictors were assessed with multivariable models. Participants were asked about strategies to improve medication affordability, and were contacted after discharge to determine if they had filled newly prescribed medications. RESULTS: One-hundred thirty (41%) of 316 potentially eligible patients participated; 93 (75%) of these completed postdischarge surveys. Thirty patients (23%) reported cost-related underuse in the year prior to admission. In adjusted analyses, patients of black race were 3.39 times (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05 to 11.02) more likely to report cost-related underuse than non-Hispanic white patients. Virtually all respondents (n = 123; 95%) endorsed at least 1 strategy to make medications more affordable. Few (16%) patients, prescribed medications at discharge, knew how much they would pay at the pharmacy. Almost none had spoken to their inpatient (4%) or outpatient (2%) providers about the cost of newly prescribed drugs. CONCLUSIONS: Cost-related underuse is common among hospitalized patients. Individuals of black race appear to be particularly at risk. Strategies should be developed to address this issue around the time of hospital discharge. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2011. © 2011 Society of Hospital Medicine. |
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Authors:
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Niteesh K Choudhry; Uzaib Y Saya; William H Shrank; Jeffrey O Greenberg; Caroline Melia; Amy Bilodeau; Emily K Kadehjian; Mary Lou Dolan; Jessica C Dudley; Allen Kachalia |
Publication Detail:
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Type: JOURNAL ARTICLE Date: 2011-10-3 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Journal of hospital medicine : an official publication of the Society of Hospital Medicine Volume: - ISSN: 1553-5606 ISO Abbreviation: - Publication Date: 2011 Oct |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2011-10-5 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 101271025 Medline TA: J Hosp Med Country: - |
Other Details:
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Languages: ENG Pagination: - Citation Subset: - |
Copyright Information:
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Copyright © 2011 Society of Hospital Medicine. |
Affiliation:
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Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. nchoudhry@partners.org. |
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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