Possession Ratio (possession + ratio)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Medical Sciences

Kinds of Possession Ratio

  • medication possession ratio


  • Selected Abstracts


    Prevalence and cost of nonadherence with antiepileptic drugs in an adult managed care population

    EPILEPSIA, Issue 3 2008
    Keith L. Davis
    Summary Purpose: This study assessed the extent of refill nonadherence with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and the potential association between AED nonadherence and health care costs in an adult-managed care population. Methods: Retrospective claims from the PharMetrics database were analyzed. Inclusion criteria were: age ,21, epilepsy diagnosis between January 01, 2000 and March 12, 2005, ,2 AED prescriptions, and continuous health plan enrollment for ,6 months prior to and ,12 months following AED initiation. Adherence was evaluated using the medication possession ratio (MPR). Patients with an MPR <0.8 were classified as nonadherent. Multivariate regression was used to assess the effect of AED nonadherence on annualized cost outcomes. Regression covariates included patient demographics, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), and follow-up duration. Results: Among patients meeting all inclusion criteria (N = 10,892), 58% were female, mean age was 44 years, mean CCI was 0.94, and mean follow-up was 27 months. Mean MPR was 0.78 and 39% of patients were nonadherent. AED nonadherence was associated with an increased likelihood of hospitalization (odds ratio [OR]= 1.110, p = 0.013) and emergency room (ER) admission (OR = 1.479, p < 0.0001), as well as increased inpatient and ER costs of $1,799 and $260 (both p = 0.001), respectively, per patient per year. Outpatient and other ancillary costs were not significantly affected by nonadherence. A large net positive effect of nonadherence on total annual health care costs remained (+$1,466, p = 0.034) despite an offset from reduced prescription drug intake. Discussion: Adherence with AEDs among adult epilepsy patients is suboptimal and nonadherence appears to be associated with increased health care costs. Efforts to promote AED adherence may lead to cost savings for managed care systems. [source]


    Benefit of Adherence With Bisphosphonates Depends on Age and Fracture Type: Results From an Analysis of 101,038 New Bisphosphonate Users,,

    JOURNAL OF BONE AND MINERAL RESEARCH, Issue 9 2008
    Jeffrey R Curtis
    Abstract The relationship between high adherence to oral bisphosphonates and the risk of different types of fractures has not been well studied among adults of different ages. Using claims data from a large U.S. health care organization, we quantified adherence after initiating bisphosphonate therapy using the medication possession ratio (MPR) and identified fractures. Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the rate of fracture among nonadherent persons (MPR < 50%) compared with highly adherent persons (MPR , 80%) across several age strata and a variety of types of clinical fractures. In conjunction with fracture incidence rates among the nonadherent, these estimates were used to compute the number needed to treat with high adherence to prevent one fracture, by age and fracture type. Among 101,038 new bisphosphonate users, the proportion of persons with high adherence at 1, 2, and 3 yr was 44%, 39%, and 35%, respectively. Among 65- to 78-yr-old persons with a physician diagnosis of osteoporosis, the crude and adjusted rate of hip fracture among the nonadherent was 1.96 (95% CI, 1.48,2.60) and 1.74 (95% CI, 1.30,2.31), respectively, resulting in a number needed to treat with high adherence to prevent one hip fracture of 107. The impact of high adherence was substantially less for other types of fractures and for younger persons. Analysis of adherence in a non,time-dependent fashion artifactually magnified differences in fracture rates between adherent and nonadherent persons. The antifracture effectiveness associated with high adherence to oral bisphosphonates varied substantially by age and fracture type. These results provide estimates of absolute fracture effectiveness across age subgroups and fracture types that have been minimally evaluated in clinical trials and may be useful for future cost-effectiveness studies. [source]


    Asthma medication , persistence with adrenergics, steroids and combination products over a 5-year period

    JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 5 2009
    D. Haupt RPh
    Summary Background:, Many patients with asthma underuse steroids for inhalation. This has been identified as a main cause of therapy failure and of excess health care utilization. Objective:, To elucidate the medication persistence of patients using asthma drugs, how patients combine the drugs over time and whether medication persistence was influenced by patients switching to combination products. Methods:, Individual patients' drug acquisition data were obtained from a pharmacy record database for the period 2000,2004. A patient was considered to have satisfactory medication possession ratio (MPR) if the medication supplies covered ,80% of the prescribed treatment. Drug use profiles were constructed as graphs for each patient, showing the date of each refill and the time period covered by the dispensed drugs. From the graphs the combination of drugs, the continuity of the therapy over time and the MPR for each patient could be determined. Results:, Of 1812 patients with asthma drugs in the database, 815 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The percentage of patients with satisfactory MPR was low (11,27%), but significantly higher among patients using combination products than among those using steroids. For patients who switched from adrenergics plus steroids in two inhalers to combination products in one inhaler, the number of patients with satisfactory MPR was significantly increased. Conclusion:, Satisfactory MPR was low for all types of asthma drugs. More patients had satisfactory MPR with combination products in one inhaler than with adrenergics and steroids in two separate inhalers. Asthma drug-delivery is important and combination products of the two ingredients could therefore improve asthma therapy. [source]


    Prevalence and cost of medication nonadherence in Parkinson's disease: Evidence from administrative claims data,

    MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 4 2010
    Keith L. Davis MA
    Abstract We estimated the prevalence of medication nonadherence in Parkinson's disease (PD) and the association between treatment nonadherence and healthcare costs. Insurance claims from over 30 US health plans were analyzed. Inclusion criteria were as follows: PD diagnosis, ,1 PD-related prescription between 1/1/1997 and 12/31/2004, continuous health plan enrollment for ,6 months before and ,12 months after first PD prescription. Adherence, all-cause healthcare utilization, and all-cause costs were evaluated over 12 months post-treatment initiation. Adherence was measured using the medication possession ratio (MPR), with MPR < 0.8 defining nonadherence. Among patients identified for inclusion (N = 3,119), 58% were male and mean age was 69 years. Mean MPR was 0.58 and 61% of patients were nonadherent. Unadjusted mean medical costs were significantly higher (P < 0.01) among nonadherers ($15,826) compared with adherers ($9,228), although nonadherers had lower prescription drug costs ($2,684 vs. $3,854; P < 0.05). After controlling for confounders in multivariable analyses, a large positive relationship between nonadherence and both medical and total healthcare costs remained (+$3,451, P < 0.0001 and +$2,383, P = 0.0053, respectively). Medication adherence in PD is suboptimal and nonadherence may be associated with increased healthcare costs despite offsets from reduced drug intake. Efforts to promote medication adherence in PD may lead to cost savings for managed care systems. © 2010 Movement Disorder Society [source]


    Immunosuppressant Therapy Adherence and Graft Failure Among Pediatric Renal Transplant Recipients

    AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 11 2009
    M. A. Chisholm-Burns
    The study objective was to determine the association between immunosuppressant therapy (IST) adherence and graft failure among pediatric renal transplant recipients (RTRs) using data reported in the United States Renal Data System (USRDS), which contains Medicare prescription claims. RTRs (,18 years) who received their only transplant during 1995,2000, experienced graft survival more than 6 months posttransplant, had 36 months of USRDS data (or had data until graft failure or death), utilized Medicare IST coverage, and were prescribed cyclosporine/tacrolimus were included. IST adherence was measured by medication possession ratio (MPR). Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to assess the relationship between time to graft failure and continuous MPR. MPR quartiles were used to examine MPR as a categorical variable (Quartile 4 = adherent group, Quartiles 1,3 = nonadherent group). Kaplan,Meier estimates of time to graft failure were compared between adherent and nonadherent groups. 877 RTRs met inclusion criteria. Cox proportional hazards modeling suggested that greater adherence was significantly associated with longer time to graft failure (p = 0.009), after adjusting for relevant clinical factors. Kaplan,Meier analysis found a difference between adherent and nonadherent groups in graft survival by time (,2= 5.68, p = 0.017). Interventions promoting adherence should be implemented among pediatric RTRs and parents/guardians to optimize graft survival. [source]


    Transplant Outcomes and Economic Costs Associated with Patient Noncompliance to Immunosuppression

    AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 11 2009
    B. W. Pinsky
    We describe factors associated with immunosuppression compliance after kidney transplantation and examine relationships between compliance with allograft outcomes and costs. Medicare claims for immunosuppression in 15 525 renal transplant recipients with at least 1 year of graft function were used to calculate compliance as medication possession ratio. Compliance was categorized by quartiles as poor, fair, good and excellent. We modeled adjusted associations of clinical factors with the likelihood of persistent compliance by multiple logistic regressions (aOR), and estimated associations of compliance with subsequent graft and patient survival with Cox proportional hazards (aHR). Adolescent recipients aged 19,24 years were more likely to be persistently noncompliant compared to patients aged 24,44 years (aOR 1.49 [1.06,2.10]). Poor (aHR 1.80 [1.52,2.13]) and fair (aHR 1.63[1.37,1.93]) compliant recipients were associated with increased risks of allograft loss compared to the excellent compliant recipients. Persistent low compliance was associated with a $12 840 increase in individual 3-year medical costs. Immunosuppression medication possession ratios indicative of less than the highest quartile of compliance predicted increased risk of graft loss and elevated costs. These findings suggest that interventions to improve medication compliance among kidney transplant recipients should emphasize the benefits of maximal compliance, rather than discourage low compliance. [source]


    Treatment adherence with antipsychotic medications in bipolar disorder

    BIPOLAR DISORDERS, Issue 3 2006
    Martha Sajatovic
    Objectives:, Atypical antipsychotic medications are a relatively new, increasingly prominent component of the treatment armamentarium for bipolar disorder. Information on adherence with antipsychotics among individuals with bipolar disorder in general, and atypical antipsychotics in particular, is currently quite limited. Using data from the VA National Psychosis Registry, we examined adherence with antipsychotic medications among patients with bipolar disorder (n = 73,964). Methods:, Antipsychotic medication adherence among veterans with bipolar disorder was evaluated using the medication possession ratio and categorizing patients into three groups: fully adherent, partially adherent and non-adherent. We compared characteristics of bipolar patients who received versus those who did not receive antipsychotic medication, and also identified predictors of poor adherence with antipsychotic medications. Results:, Approximately 45% (n = 32,993) of all individuals with bipolar disorder were prescribed antipsychotic medication. Individuals who were prescribed antipsychotic medications were younger and more often had comorbid substance abuse or post-traumatic stress disorder compared to individuals with bipolar disorder who were not prescribed antipsychotic medication. Just over half (51.9%) of individuals appear to be fully adherent with antipsychotic medications, while 48.1% of individuals are either partially adherent or non-adherent with antipsychotic medications. Factors associated with treatment non-adherence were younger age, minority ethnicity, comorbid substance abuse and homelessness. Conclusions:, Treatment non-adherence is a major issue for close to half of individuals with bipolar disorder prescribed antipsychotic medication. Additional studies are needed to better understand treatment adherence within the full range of pharmacologic therapies among individuals with bipolar disorder. [source]


    Adherence level of antihypertensive agents in coronary artery disease

    BRITISH JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
    Sylvie Perreault
    WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT , Non-adherence is probably an important source of preventable cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. , However, until now there have been very few large effectiveness studies assessing the relationship between adherence levels to antihypertensive medication and major cardiovascular outcomes for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS , The study results suggest that there is an association between better adherence to antihypertensive agents and a relative risk reduction of coronary artery disease. , Adherence to antihypertensive agents needs to be improved so that patients can benefit from the full protective effects of antihypertensive therapies. AIMS Antihypertensive (AH) agents have been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, including coronary artery disease (CAD). Previous surveys have shown that a substantial number of patients with diagnosed hypertension remain uncontrolled. Non-adherence to AH agents may reduce the effectiveness. The aim was to evaluate the impact of better adherence to AH agents on the occurrence of CAD in a real clinical setting. METHODS A cohort of 83 267 patients was reconstructed using the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec databases. Patients were eligible if they were between 45 and 85 years of age without indication of cardiovascular disease, and had been newly treated with AH agents between 1999 and 2004. A nested case,control design was used to study the incidence of CAD. Every case of CAD was matched for age and duration of follow-up to up to 15 randomly selected controls. The adherence level was measured by calculating the medication possession ratio. Cases' adherence was calculated from the start of follow-up to the time of the CAD (index date). For controls, adherence was calculated from the start of follow-up to the time of selection (index date). Rate ratios of CAD were estimated by conditional logistic regression adjusting for covariables. RESULTS The mean patient age was 65 years, 37% were male, 8% had diabetes and 18% had dyslipidaemia. High adherence level (96%) to AH therapy compared with lower adherence level (59%) was associated with a relative risk reduction of CAD events (rate ratios 0.90; 0.84, 0.95). Risk factors for CAD were male gender, diabetes, dyslipidaemia and developing a cardiovascular condition disease during follow-up. CONCLUSION Our study suggests that better adherence to AH agents is associated with a risk reduction of CAD. Adherence to AH agents needs to be improved so that patients can benefit from the full protective effects of AH therapies. [source]