Tell your patients about the risks of medication noncompliance

In the United States, 3.8 billion prescriptions are written annually, with only 1 in 5 new prescriptions filled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among those filled, the CDC estimates that 50% are taken incorrectly because of issues related to timing, dosage, frequency and duration.

As most physicians know, patients often don’t understand the damage or consequences of noncompliance. This is especially true for those who have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma or diabetes.

To encourage your patients to take medication compliance seriously, consider sharing these statistics with them:

• Patients with hypertension who aren’t taking high blood pressure medication correctly are 3 to 7 times more likely to suffer a stroke, according to the American College of Cardiology.
• More than 12% of adults in the U.S. age 20 and older had total cholesterol higher than 240 mg per dl, the CDC found. But only 55% of adults who could benefit from statin medication are currently taking it.
• Of U.S. adults diagnosed with asthma, 61.9% don’t have their asthma controlled and are five times more likely than children to die from asthma, according to the CDC.
• Patients with Type 2 diabetes who are noncompliant with their diabetes medication are more likely to be hospitalized or visit the emergency room than patients who are compliant, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Suggestions
To help ensure your patients take their medication appropriately, suggest they do the following:

• Print the American Heart Association’s medicine chart to write down when and how to take medication.
• Use pill organizers.
• Keep track of medications and when to take them using sticky notes, a white board or a calendar.
• Set reminders using a smartphone.