A European study has confirmed what psoriasis patients whisper about among themselves: a stunning percentage of psoriasis patients do not even fill the prescriptions their doctors prescribe for them. Nearly one-third of dermatology patients do not obtain their prescription medications, found the study from Denmark, and psoriasis patients had the lowest compliance rate–nearly 50% of prescriptions for psoriasis medications went unfilled! The study was published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
The study’s authors followed 322 patients who received a first-time prescription for a skin condition from doctors at a large clinic outside of Copenhagen. Using a nationwide electronic prescription registry, they determined whether patients redeemed their prescription at a pharmacy.
Younger patients and those with chronic conditions were less likely to fill their prescriptions. Prescriptions for topical medications went unfilled more often than those for systemic treatments, such as pills. (Previous studies have shown that even when patients do acquire their medications, they often do not use them correctly; topical medications are particularly likely to be misused.)
Patients’ motivation to follow a prescribed treatment is influenced by their confidence in their doctors and by their previous experience with similar therapies, say the authors. Price is unlikely to be a factor in Denmark, where much of the cost of prescription medications is covered by the public health insurance system. (This raises the question whether compliance is even lower in the U.S.A., where cost is a common problem.)
The authors recommend better communication during office visits, so that doctor and patient can agree on a treatment plan. Also, they propose that doctors follow up about a week after an office visit to ensure that patients have filled their prescriptions and are taking their medications as directed.
“Psoriasis patients and their physicians both have to do better,” said Michael Paranzino, president of Psoriasis Cure Now. “Patients have to ‘come clean’ if they don’t plan to fill prescriptions, so the doctor can work with the patient on a treatment plan that meets the patient’s needs. At the same time, doctors must take this study to heart: there is a serious disconnect between many doctors and their psoriasis patients, which is impacting patient outcomes.”
Do you fill your prescriptions? If not, why not? Click on COMMENTS below and let us know what you think.
Category: Health care system, Insurance, Treatment
Tags: prescriptions
they are too expensive,,so i delay alot. Lee ,,,40 years under the curse of psoriasis
I fill some, others I don’t. The ones I do fill are cream or solutions that don’t have a strong odor and that have worked in the past. This next time will be my first time trying to get insurance to pay for part of the prescription. Thankfully I have a good job and low debt so I can afford to pay for them but it’s (the price and my psoriasis) getting worse.
I too fill some, but skip the others. Price is an issue, as is having 5 scrips that I can not remember which goes where. Then there are the great smelly creams, not sure about others but I already often feel like a leper so smearing your body in cream to smell like tar not a good plan for a young woman. But mostly it makes no sense to fill a little tube and pay 50 dollars for it when it will barely treat a part of my body which may end up worse than when I started when I run out of either medication or insurance. But mainly, I am disillusioned with creams that more often than not have little of no impact, why bother.