Research from the University of California – Los Angeles Health Sciences suggests physicians could be doing more to ensure patients are adhering to medication regimens.
UCLA researchers and colleagues conducted focus-group discussions with providers and recorded outpatient office visits with 100 patients taking a total of 410 medications. They also examined how adherence discussions were initiated between providers and patients.
The researchers found providers believed patients were ultimately responsible for medication adherence but admitted to feeling some responsibility for assessing and addressing adherence. Notably, researchers found physician-patient interactions addressed adherence in some form for 62 percent of the 410 medications. These interactions included simple inquiries about adherence for 31.5 percent of the medications but in-depth questions about adherence for only 4.3 percent of the medications. In addition, patients spontaneously disclosed their non-adherence in 51 percent of 39 identified instances of non-adherence.
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UCLA researchers and colleagues conducted focus-group discussions with providers and recorded outpatient office visits with 100 patients taking a total of 410 medications. They also examined how adherence discussions were initiated between providers and patients.
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The researchers found providers believed patients were ultimately responsible for medication adherence but admitted to feeling some responsibility for assessing and addressing adherence. Notably, researchers found physician-patient interactions addressed adherence in some form for 62 percent of the 410 medications. These interactions included simple inquiries about adherence for 31.5 percent of the medications but in-depth questions about adherence for only 4.3 percent of the medications. In addition, patients spontaneously disclosed their non-adherence in 51 percent of 39 identified instances of non-adherence.
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