Factors Associated With Pickup of Pediatric Discharge Prescriptions

Lack of medication pickup is associated with worse clinical outcomes for select patients. Identification of risk factors for not picking up discharge medications or approaches to this problem have received little study. We sought to identify factors associated with medication pickup rates after hospitalization at a tertiary care children's hospital.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 178 discharges from a children's hospital. We contacted pharmacies that received electronic prescriptions to ascertain whether patients and families picked up medications. The principal outcome was pickup of all medications within 48 hours of discharge. Covariates included demographic data, insurance type, discharge diagnosis, home zip code median income, medication number and/or class, and pharmacy type (on-site versus off-site). We performed a multivariable logistic regression analysis.

Overall, 142 of 178 (80%) discharges involved medication pickup. Patient age and sex, diagnosis, discharge day, primary language, and hospitalization length had no statistically significant association with medication pickup. On the multivariable analysis, a higher home zip code median income (P = .045; highest versus lowest groups) had a statistically significant association with increased medication pickup. Private insurance had a statistically significant association with higher pickup rate on the univariable analysis (P = .01) but not on the multivariable analysis, which included zip code income (P = .072). On-site pharmacy use (P = .048) and prescription of an anti-infective (P = .003) had statistically significant associations with higher medication pickup rates.

Certain factors are associated with rates of medication pickup after discharge. Use of an on-site hospital pharmacy may represent a strategy to improve medication pickup rates in children who are hospitalized.