How smart/healthy are we when…
- Medication prescriptions are never filled: 20% to 30% of the time.
- Medication administration is not continued as prescribed in about 50% of cases.
- Rates of medication adherence drop after first six months.
- Only 51% of Americans treated for hypertension are adherent to their long-term therapy.
- About 25% to 50% of patients discontinue statins within one year of treatment initiation
- The World Health Organization estimates that by 2020, the number of Americans affected by at least one chronic condition requiring medication therapy will grow to 157 million.
Sources: http://scriptyourfuture.org/wp-content/themes/cons/m/release.pdf ; Osterberg 2005, NEJM; Ho 2009, Circulation Medication Adherence in United States; Choudhry 2011, N Engl J Med; Yeaw 2009, J Manag Care Pharm; Script Your Future