A study of medication use within insured patients with chronic diseases

Background: A key component in the management of a patient with chronic health problem is the assessment of its adherence with therapeutic regimen. Low levels of patient adherence with disease plans compromise the effectiveness of the therapies and have been associated with an increased risk of adverse health outcomes. Improving medication adherence with chronic diseases has been historically challenging due to its complex and patient-specific nature. Methods: Prospective evaluation of medications for187 insured patients with chronic diseases were included in the present study at the time of their visit to outpatient clinics at 48 model hospital (from October to December, 2017).The Morisky Medication Adherence 4-item Scale (Morisky et al., 1986) (MMAS-4) was used to measure patients’ self-reported adherence to their medications. The instrument has been widely used and it has been demonstrated to be accurate to assess medication adherence in patients with chronic diseases. Results: Among 187 of patients, 51.9% have more than five types of drugs and 86.1% of them were high adherence to use the drugs. Up to half of patients (52.9%) were non-educated, 88.8% of patients take of medication according to prescription, 86.1% of total patients were full compliance and 89.9% of these patients recognized their medication. Conclusion: The results of this study provided evidence about the high prevalence of adherence to prescribed medications in insured individuals affected by chronic diseases. This suggested the positive role of insurance coverage in increasing the compliance rate among patients with chronic diseases at health care organizations.