Study Finds Drug Compliance Undermined by Barriers of Cost

Abstract

One in 10 Canadians (9.6%) has problems affording prescription drugs, leading them to skip doses of their medications or to decide against filling or refilling prescriptions. The findings come from a study conducted by researchers at the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, and published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) on January 16, 2012. The research found the cost barrier to be most prevalent among Canadians without drug insurance, with 26.5% reporting problems with affordability. The study was based on analysis of data from more than 5700 people in the 2007 Canadian Community Health Survey, conducted by Statistics Canada. Two-thirds of Canadian households pay out of pocket for at least some portion of their prescription drug costs. In 2010, these expenditures totalled $4.6 billion — about 17.5% of total prescription-drug spending in the country. The study also found that Canadians who reported fair or poor health status were 2.6 times more likely to avoid taking prescription medications because of cost, and those with chronic health conditions were 1.6 times more likely not to take their medicines as directed — due to cost. Provincially, those living in British Columbia were more than twice as likely to report not being able to afford their prescription drugs than those living in other large provinces.