Based on the study's findings, the authors estimate that every month, this cost-related medication skimping leads more than a million Americans with diabetes to use less medication for that illness than was prescribed to them, and causes more than 1.6 million people with asthma to miss some of their doses of medication.
The findings, from a nationally representative survey of 4,055 adults over the age of 50, are published in the October issue of the American Journal of Public Health by a team from the University of Michigan Health System, the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System and Stanford University. The study was funded by the VA.
Not surprisingly, the study finds that seniors whose out-of-pocket prescription costs are more than $100 a month, and those with low incomes or no prescription drug coverage, are at the greatest risk for skimping on their medications.
Other results of the survey indicate that people with chronic illnesses were more likely to cut back on certain kinds of medications over others, suggesting that patients are selective about which drugs they go without.
"We found that many patients go without drugs that relieve serious symptomatic conditions such as back pain or ulcers, while others skipped drugs that are life-sustaining, such as blood pressure and cholesterol drugs, but that might not cause any noticeable difference in day-to-day functioning," says lead author John D. Piette, a VA Career Scientist and associate professor of internal medicine at the U-M Medical School.
More patients regularly cut back on costs by forgoing their medicines for depression, asthma, ulcers, arthritis, migraines a
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Contact: Kara Gavin
kegavin@umich.edu
734-764-2220
University of Michigan Health System
6-Oct-2004