OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of individual drugs, drug classes, and prescribing physicians on a patient's medication compliance. DESIGN: A retrospective review of prescription claims submitted between January 1, 1994, and September 30, 1995, by members of a preferred provider organization. The unit of compliance used was the medication possession ratio (MPR), defined as the days supply of medication divided by the days between refills, of 20 selected medications used as maintenance therapy (three or more refills). Three separate analyses were periormed to assess differences in compliance by medication, therapeutic class, and prescribing physician. SETTING: A 275,000-member preferred provider organization in the Mid-Atlantic Region, PATIENTS: 1,776 patients, 639 males and 1,137 females, identified as having filed three or more claims for at least one of the selected medications. The average age of the patients was 55.3 years.

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