The effect of cost on adherence to prescription medications in Canada

Financial Barriers and Adverse Clinical Outcomes Among Patients with Cardiovascular-Related Chronic Diseases: A Cohort Study

“…Since having a financial barrier was associated with an excess hospital cost of $364 per person, Canadian hospital costs may be This study corroborates the findings from the previously conducted self-report studies: perceived financial barriers are associated with a higher likelihood of requiring hospital care for chronic conditions [5,8]. The observed associations for those with financial barriers is potentially mediated by cost-related nonadherence to medical therapies [5,6] and health behaviour modification [31], which result in poorer control of chronic diseases and ultimately culminate in hospitalizations and death. We recently completed a grounded theory study on this topic where we found that the impact of financial barriers on patients' lives is determined by a complex set of individual patient and system factors [21].…”

The consequences of patient charges for prescription drugs in Canada: a cross-sectional survey

“…6,7 Surveys conducted to date in Canada, however, have not investigated such behaviours, nor have they investigated differences in the reporting of cost-related nonadherence by some groups (e.g., different ethnicities) or studied which drugs are not adhered to due to cost. 4,8 Therefore, our study aimed to quantify the consequences of patient charges for medicines in Canada.…”

Profile of drug spend among elderly individuals from different socioeconomic groups

“…In Canada, the elderly account for only 12.0% of the total population, but 40.0% of prescriptions are written for this group, while in the United States, the elderly account for only 11.7% of the population, but receive 31.0 % of drug prescriptions. 7,8 The amount of prescriptions dispensed for the elderly can be evaluated in terms of the cost this represents for health systems and/or patients. Analyzing data from developed countries, spending per capita on medicines in Canada increased by 10.8% between 1996 and 2002.…”