Does hospitalization influence patients' medication adherence and community pharmacists' interventions?

Area of Science:

• Clinical Pharmacy
• Patient Adherence Research
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Medication adherence is crucial for reducing disease morbidity and improving patient outcomes.
• Limited data exists on how hospitalization impacts patient adherence and pharmacist interventions.
• Understanding these dynamics is key to optimizing chronic disease management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate changes in medication adherence in the year before and after hospitalization.
• To explore patient perspectives on adherence and the pharmacist's role.
• To document pharmacist interventions aimed at enhancing medication adherence.

Main Methods:

• A cohort study involving patients hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome, heart failure exacerbation, or COPD exacerbation.
• Medication adherence measured by proportion of days covered (PDC) from prescription refills.
• Patient interviews and pharmacist surveys/focus groups to gather qualitative insights.

Main Results:

• Mean PDC was 69.8% pre-hospitalization and 72.4% post-hospitalization, showing no significant change.
• Patients expressed a need to take medications to prevent disease worsening and were satisfied with services.
• Pharmacists primarily monitored prescription renewals; hospitalization did not significantly influence their adherence monitoring.

Conclusions:

• Hospitalization does not significantly alter patient medication adherence rates for cardiovascular and respiratory conditions.
• Neither patient behavior nor pharmacist interventions regarding adherence are significantly influenced by the hospitalization event.
• Further research may be needed to identify effective strategies to improve adherence post-hospitalization.