Medication Adherence News and Research

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Parent's views on their children's asthma medications can hamper kids' asthma care

The next battle in the war on asthma symptom control could be a psychological one, a new study finds.

5 Sep 2007

Health plan interventions control prescription drug expenditures

As national spending on prescription drugs rose faster than any other segment of health care spending, the health plan at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center was able to maintain constant spending, resulting in savings of more than $6.6 million over three years.

8 Aug 2007

Medicare Part D plans vary across U.S.

An examination of Medicare Part D plans in California and Hawaii reveals wide variations in drug formularies, but indicates that for many classes of drugs, it is possible to find at least one or more drug that is covered by nearly all Part D plans, according to a study in the June 20 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association

20 Jun 2007

Exercise helps people with diabetes

Diabetes is often called a lifestyle disease, and now a new study from the University of Missouri-Columbia verifies that a lifestyle change brings strong improvements.

17 Jun 2007

Some children are genetically less responsive to inhaled steroids for asthma

Some children may not be able to keep their asthma under control even if they consistently report using inhaled corticosteroids, a mainstay of asthma treatment, suggests a new study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference, on Wednesday, May 23.

24 May 2007

Web-based disease management program improves outcomes for low-income black students

Low-income African-American high school students with asthma who participated in a specially-designed, web-based disease management program reported fewer days and nights with symptoms, fewer school days missed, fewer days of restricted activity, and less hospitalization for asthma during a 12-month follow-up period, as compared to non-participating asthmatic students.

2 May 2007

Pharmacy care programs for elderly improve health outcomes

A pharmacy care program for elderly patients increases medication adherence, which results in improved health outcomes, according to a study posted online by JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

13 Nov 2006

Race affects medication adherence

African Americans may be less likely than whites to take their medication for Type 2 diabetes as it is prescribed, a new study suggests.

2 Aug 2006

Evidence-based treatments for alcohol dependence

Medical management combined with the drug naltrexone or with a specialized behavioral therapy can be effective treatments for alcohol dependence, according to a study in the May 3 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

3 May 2006

Coronary artery disease patients consistently fail to take life saving drugs

Nearly half the coronary artery disease (CAD) patients in a seven-year study admitted they don’t consistently take beta blockers, cholesterol-lowering drugs and other medications that could extend their lives, researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

10 Jan 2006

Depressed heart patients skip medications

Recent studies conducted at the San Francisco VA Medical Center suggest two possible mechanisms for the widely recognized link between depression and adverse outcomes in patients with coronary heart disease: lack of adherence to medication regimens and increased levels of norepinephrine, a stress hormone.

2 Dec 2005

Oral medications may control symptoms of Type II diabetes in children just as well as insulin injections

According to the medical records of 26 children diagnosed with the disease, oral medications reduced levels of a compound in the blood called hemoglobin A1C by an average of 2 percentage points.

15 Aug 2005

Communication from physicians and health care teams needs to improve to meet patient's needs

Researchers report in the current issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings that more than one-half of their study patients were unable to list their medications, diagnoses, treatment plan (names and purposes of medications) and common side effects of prescribed medications.

2 Aug 2005

HIV deaths drop 90 percent among African-American IDUs who are given access to combination drug therapy

Combination drug therapy effectively reduces 90 percent of HIV deaths in African-American injection drug users when they are given ample access to care, according to a new Academy study in the June issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

1 Jun 2005

Within six months, one in three patients fail to take cardiovascular risk-lowering medications as prescribed

Therapy that includes medications to reduce high blood pressure and to lower lipid levels can reduce risk for heart disease, but within six months, more than a third of patients fail to take one or both medications as prescribed, according to a study in the May 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

23 May 2005

Many alcohol dependent HIV patients need assistance adhering to medications

Supervised medication delivery or simplified dosing regimens may be needed to ensure that HIV-infected patients with a history of alcohol problems stick to their medication regimens, according to a new study by researchers at Boston University Medical Center.

8 Feb 2005

Majority of hospitalizations for asthma may be the result of people not taking their inhaled steroid medications

Inhaled steroids have become the standard in the treatment of persistent asthma. They have been shown to significantly improve asthma symptoms and reduce asthma complications. However, adherence to the prescribed inhaled steroids is poor among adult asthma patients.

6 Dec 2004

FDA approval for chewable ADHD tablets

Alliant Pharmaceuticals has announced FDA approval of Methylin Chewable Tablets and Methylin Oral Solution for the treatment of ADHD. The two products are the first, and only, chewable tablet and oral solution for ADHD to gain FDA acceptance.

7 Sep 2004