PMU112 MEDICATION ADHERENCE GOAL AWARENESS: DIALING UP PDC

Abstract

Medication adherence interventions have shown limited success/sustainability. Our pilot study found that phone calls to patients regarding adherence goal awareness resulted in significant improvement in 3-month proportion of days covered (PDC). The objective of this study was to further determine impact of goal awareness on 3-6 month PDC from similar studies at four patient environments. The four studies (University ambulatory care pharmacy, chain store pharmacy, small health plan and FQHC) all used prospective controlled designs, with phone call interventions. In each study, participants with >2 chronic medications who were nonadherent (PDC< 0.80) were separated into control (n=115) and intervention (n=126) groups. Control groups (C) received the setting’s usual care while intervention groups (X) were called by a pharmacist to inform them of PDC goals and survey adherence and goal commitment. PDC was examined 3 to 12 months after the intervention. Data from a total of 241 participants from the four studies were pooled to examine change in PDC; using One-way ANOVA, Chi-square, and paired t-test. There was no significant difference between the C and X groups in age (67.24±12.72), number of medications (5.74± 6.26, p = 0.268), sex (p=0.722), ethnicity (p= 0.624), or insurance (p=0.481). There were no differences between C and X in baseline PDC (C= 0.52, X=0.53 p= 0.689); or post-PDC (C=0.72, X= 0.71 p= 0.692). There was a significant increase from pre- to post-PDC in both groups, (C= 0.30 ± 0.21 p<0.05) and (X= 0.25 ± 0.18, p<0.05). Subgroup analysis revealed approximately 75% of patients in both groups reached goal adherence from pre to post. Results suggest that a phone call by pharmacists may serve as a priming mechanism for behavioral change in patients’ medication adherence. Motivated patients may reach their adherence goal based on the stimulus of a simple phone call intervention.