Analysis of medication adherence using electronic prescriptions in a community pharmacy: ‘REACT’ study

Abstract

Background: Patients` lack of adherence to pharmacological treatments has a major impact, both clinical and economical. While different methods are used to measure adherence, retrospective studies are being used more frequently as they are more objective, less prone to bias by patient perception and interfere less with patients' lives. The electronic prescription system provides the community pharmacy with a useful tool to conduct this research.Objective: To measure the adherence of patients to their chronic medication considering different therapeutic drug groups and their mental health using electronic prescription information available in a database.Methods: An observational, ambispective and logitudinal study was developed for 300 patients. Adherence was assessed using Proportion of Days Covered (PDC) per patient and per treatment and the Morisky Green Levine test. Data on patients' dispensed medication for the last 12 months was obtained through the electronic prescription system. Data on patient mental health was gathered using the PHQ-2 screen for depression.Results: A total of 300 patients were recruited, but only 290 were included in the analysis. 25.5%; [95%CI: 20.6:30.9] were classified as polymedicated. The median PDC per patient was 0.90 (IQR: 0.73 -1). According to the Morisky Green Levine questionnaire, 57.9% of the patients [95%CI 52.0:63.6] adhered to their treatments. Concurrence between the Morisky Green Levine test and the PDC had a kappa k=0.086. Conclusion:The electronic prescription turned out to be a useful tool to gain insight into adherence to long-term treatments measured in terms of the PDC.