Effects of the financial crisis and Troika austerity measures on health and health care access in Portugal.

Aims Adherence to medicines is vital in treating diseases. Initial medication non-adherence (IMNA) - defined as not obtaining a medication the first time it is prescribed - has been poorly explored. Previous studies show IMNA rates between 6 and 28% in primary care (PC). The aims of this study were to determine prevalence and predictive factors of IMNA in the most prescribed and expensive pharmacotherapeutic groups in the Catalan health system. Methods This is a retrospective, register-based cohort study which linked the Catalan PC System (Spain) prescription and invoicing databases. Medication was considered non-initiated when it was not collected from the pharmacy by the end of the month following the one in which it was prescribed. IMNA prevalence was calculated using July 2013-June 2014 prescription data. Predictive factors related to patients, general practitioners and PC centres were identified through multilevel logistic regression analyses. Missing data were attributed using simple imputation. Results Some 1.6 million patients with 2.9 million prescriptions were included in the study sample. Total IMNA prevalence was 17.6% of prescriptions. The highest IMNA rate was observed in anilides (22.6%) and the lowest in angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (7.4%). Predictors of IMNA are younger age, American nationality, having a pain-related or mental disorder and being treated by a substitute/resident general practitioner in a resident-training centre. Conclusions The rate of IMNA is high when all medications are taken into account. Attempts to strengthen trust in resident general practitioners and improve motivation to initiate a needed medication in the general young and older immigrant population should be addressed in Catalan PC.

Initial medication non-adherence: prevalence and predictive factors in a cohort of 1.6 million primary care patients.

Each patient in the European Union has a right of access to care. National governments face the challenge to balance resources against healthcare demand to ensure that populations enjoy equitable access to effective, affordable and sustainable healthcare. This study describes the main challenges with regard to access to affordable medicines, including Research & Development, pricing and reimbursement of medicines and the influence of the economic crisis. Potential policy options to tackle these challenges are presented, drawing on best practices and a review of specific measures implemented in different European countries. This document was provided by Policy Department A for the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.

Links between Pharmaceutical R&D Models and Access to Affordable Medicines

PurposeTo determine the prevalence of self-medication in a Portuguese urban population. To assess the feasibility of performing these studies in community pharmacies.
Methods A cross-sectional study was chosen to collect information about demography, use of health services and drug utilization in a sample of pharmacy user-purchasers in a pre-determined period of time.
ResultsThe proportion of pharmacies which participated in the study was 18.3% (11 from 60 invited) in Lisbon and 37.5% (15 of 40 invited) in Porto. Among the 3312 selected patients, only 2.6% (n = 114) refused to participate. The prevalence of self-medication was found to be 26.2%. The distribution of self-medication by gender was 28.4% for males and 25.2% for females. Use of self-medication was statistically significantly higher (p < 0.001) among individuals aged between 10 and 49 years. The main therapeutic groups used for self-medication, according to the ATC classification, were throat preparations, cough and cold preparations, stomatological preparations (antiinfectives and corticosteroides for local oral treatment), laxatives, analgesics, dermatological preparations, vitamins, mineral supplements and other alimentary tract and metabolism products.
Conclusions In the urban areas under study the overall prevalence of self-medication was 26.2%. Predictive factors for self-medication seem to be, a high level of education, professional status and length of waiting times for a medical consultation in cases of a severe health problem. Further research on this subject is needed to confirm the reproducibility of these results, since potential selection bias could have been introduced due to the method used for patient selection. Pharmacoepidemiologic research is feasible in Portuguese community pharmacies.
Published in: Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2002; 11: 409-14.

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Self-medication in a Portuguese Urban Population: A Prevalence Study

BACKGROUND: The behavior of medication nonadherence is distinguished into primary and secondary nonadherence. Primary nonadherence (PNA) is not as thoroughly studied as secondary nonadherence. OBJE...

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Reasons for Primary Medication Nonadherence: A Systematic Review and Metric Analysis.

Background Portugal is currently facing a serious economic and financial crisis, which is dictating some important changes in the health care sector. Some of these measures may potentially influence patients’ access to medication and consequently adherence, which will ultimately impact on health status, especially in chronic patients. Aims This study aimed at providing a snapshot of adherence in patients with chronic conditions in Portugal between March and April 2012. Setting Community pharmacy in Portugal. Method A cross-sectional pilot study was undertaken, where patients were recruited via community pharmacies to a questionnaire study evaluating the number of prescribed and purchased drugs and, when these figures were inconsistent, the reasons for this. Main outcome measures Primary and secondary adherence measures. Failing to purchase prescription items was categorized as primary nonadherence. Secondary nonadherence was attributed to purchasing prescription items, but not taking medicines as prescribed. Results Data were collected from 375 patients. Primary nonadherence was identified in 22.8 % of patients. Regardless of the underlying condition, the most commonly reported reason for primary non-adherence was having spare medicines at home (“leftovers”), followed by financial problems. The latter appeared to be related to the class of medicines prescribed. Primary non-adherence was associated with low income (<475 €/month; p = 0.026). Secondary non-adherence, assessed by the 7-MMAS was detected in over 50 % of all patients, where unintentional nonadherence was higher than intentional nonadherence across all disease conditions. Conclusion This study revealed that more than one fifth of chronic medication users report primary nonadherence (22.8 %) and more than 50 % report secondary nonadherence. Data indicates that the existence of spare medicines and financial constraints occurred were the two most frequent reasons cited for nonadherence (47, 6–64, 8 and 19–45.5 %, depending on the major underlying condition, respectively).

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Fátima Bragança

Papers

Primary non-adherence in Portugal: findings and implications