Identification of Country-Specific Indicators Related to Medication Adherence across 39 European Countries and Israel
Author(s)
Agh T1, Hadziabdic MO2, Garuoliene K3, Aarnio EJ4, Mitkova Z5, Fonseca PB6, Menditto E7, Gregorio JP8, van Boven JFM9, Kardas P10
1University of Pécs & Syreon Research Institute, Budapest, Hungary, 2Centre for Applied Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia, 3Pharmacy Center, Institute of Biomedical Science, Facutly of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania, 4University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland, 5Medical University-Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria, 6CUDECA Hospice Foundation, Malaga, Spain, 7CIRFF - Center of Pharmacoeconomics and Drug utilization Research, Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy, 8CBIOS, Universidade Lusófona’s Research Center for Biosciences & Health Technologies, Lisboa, Portugal, 9University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Clinical Pharmacy & Pharmacology, Groningen, Netherlands, 10Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
Presentation Documents
OBJECTIVES: To identify key country-specific indicators related to medication adherence (IRMAs) to showcase the current situation regarding medication adherence across European countries.
METHODS: This study was developed as part of the “European Network to Advance Best practices & technoLogy on medication adherencE” (ENABLE) COST Action (CA19132). Key country-specific IRMAs were defined through a 2-round expert survey conducted in October/November 2022. In the 1st round, participants were asked to list the most important IRMAs addressing the following dimensions: country characteristics, social/economic factors, therapy, patient, condition, and healthcare system. In the 2nd round, participants were asked to rank the identified indicators on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not relevant at all, 5 = extremely relevant). Key IRMAs were selected by using a mean cut-off value of ≥3.5 points. A literature review was conducted to collect country-specific data on the agreed indicators. Finally, country representatives from ENABLE were asked to validate and update, if necessary, the collected data.
RESULTS: In the 1st round, a total of 206 indicators were provided by 17 participants. After the 2nd round with 21 participants, 26 top-ranked indicators (e.g., patient co-payment, percentage of patients ≥75 years taking >5 medications, percentage of persons with depressive symptoms) were included in the final list: 6 indicators related to country characteristics, 4 related to social/economic factors, 3 therapy-related, 3 patient-related, 1 condition-related, and 9 healthcare system-related factors. This allowed for the collection of country-specific data on key IRMAs from 39 European countries and Israel.
CONCLUSIONS: The iterative approach adopted for the selection of key country-specific IRMAs allowed the creation of a cohesive description of the situation regarding medication adherence across countries. This may help to raise awareness of medication adherence among policy makers, allow for fair benchmarking of countries, and pave the way for adherence enhancing interventions to be wider implemented.
Conference/Value in Health Info
Value in Health, Volume 26, Issue 6, S2 (June 2023)
Code
PCR140
Topic
Health Policy & Regulatory, Patient-Centered Research
Topic Subcategory
Adherence, Persistence, & Compliance, Insurance Systems & National Health Care
Disease
Cardiovascular Disorders (including MI, Stroke, Circulatory), Diabetes/Endocrine/Metabolic Disorders (including obesity), Geriatrics