Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1.
Flow of primary care patients in a study about medication compliance.
Tables
- Table 1.
Demographic Characteristics of a Sample of Primary Care Patients Gathered in Waiting Rooms (N = 370)
Characteristic Mean (SD) Note: Because of rounding, percentages may not all total 100. EuroQol-5D = the EuroQol 5-dimensional questionnaire. Age of patients, years 41.3 (15.8) No. of consultations in last year 5.3 (6.7) EuroQol-5D score 8.0 (2.5) No. (%) Sex, female 247 (68.1) Ethnicity White 276 (74.5) Maori 46 (12.4) Pacific Islander 32 (8.6) Other 16 (4.3) Economic status Community services card 122 (34.2) Can’t make ends meet 26 (7.0) Have just enough 144 (38.9) Am comfortable 189 (51.1) Education Less than high school 77 (22.8) Completed high school 144 (42.7) Some higher qualification 116 (34.4) Person consulting Myself 276 (76.2) A child I am caring for 81 (22.4) An adult I am caring for 5 (1.4) Chronic illness in the patient 113 (30.9) - Table 2.
Consultation Characteristics of a Sample of Primary Care Patients Gathered in Waiting Rooms (N = 370)
Characteristic Value Note: Because of rounding, percentages may not all total 100. UPC = Usual Provider Continuity. * Responses were missing for 35 patients. † Values are based on 172 patients who received a prescription and had follow-up. ‡ An additional 8 patients received a repeated prescription and already had enough medication. Trust Trust in Physician Scale score, mean (SD) 44.57 (6.25) Source of care Has a usual source of care (clinic), No. (%) of patients 326 (88.1) Has a usual doctor, No. (%) of patients 279 (75.4) Continuity of care UPC Index score, mean (SD) 0.75 (0.31) Length of care with same doctor, No. (%) of patients <1 year 82 (24) 1–2 years 56 (16) 3–5 years 69 (20) 6–10 years 49 (14) >10 years 91 (26) Importance of seeing same doctor at each visit, No. (%) of patients Very important 152 (41.3) Quite important 150 (40.9) Neutral 40 (10.9) Not very, not important at all 26 (8.2) Enablement Enablement Index score, mean (SD) 2.1 (0.75) Doctor-patient concordance No. (%) of patients responding “completely”* To what extent do you think the doctor understands why you came in today? 294 (89.1) How well do you think the doctor understood you today? 293 (88.5) To what extent did you and the doctor agree about the main problem or need today? 280 (84.5) To what extent did you and the doctor agree about what to do about the problem or need? 278 (84.2) To what extent do you and the doctor agree on what part you play in making decisions about health? 241 (73.9) To what extent do you and the doctor agree on who is responsible for different aspects of care? 239 (74.7) Overall score, mean (SD) 3.6 (1.9) Compliance No. (%) of patients responding “yes” Received prescription during consultation 220 (61.3) Picked up prescription from pharmacy† 150 (86.7) Taking medication† 136 (78.6)‡ - Table 3.
Relationship Between Consultation Attributes and Compliance With Medications (the Dependent Variable) in Logistic Regression Analysis (N = 172)
Consultation Variable Unadjusted OR (95% CI) Adjusted* OR (95% CI) Note: All analyses are adjusted for clustering. OR = odds ratio; CI = confidence interval; UPC = Usual Provider Continuity. * Logistic regression adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, education, perceived financial status, EuroQol 5-dimensional questionnaire (EuroQol-5D) score, and number of visits in the last year. † After addition of an interaction term for sex and doctor-patient concordance to the model, OR = 1.74 (95% CI, 1.25–2.43). Trust in Physician Scale score 1.07 (1.020–1.12) 1.04 (0.99–1.10) Continuity of care UPC Index 0.90 (0.97–1.01) 0.99 (0.97–1.02) Usual source of care 2.87 (0.86–9.60) 5.98 (1.88–19.03) Length of care with same doctor 0.94 (0.74–1.19) 0.86 (0.68–1.09) Importance of seeing same doctor each visit 0.86 (0.56–1.30) 0.80 (0.51–1.25) Enablement Index 1.03 (0.99–1.08) 1.05 (0.98–1.12) Physician-patient concordance score 1.21 (1.05–1.39) 1.34 (1.04–1.72)†
The Article in Brief
Patients who feel that the doctor understands them and their health problems, and who agree with the doctor about their treatment, are more likely than other patients to take their medications as prescribed. Efforts to make sure that patients and doctors understand each other and reach agreement could have important health benefits.
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