OBJECTIVES : 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.

METHODS : 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.

RESULTS : 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.

CONCLUSIONS : 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.