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Adherence of patients with type 2 diabetes to refills and medications: a comparison between ‘telephone and collect’ and conventional counter services in a health clinic

Background Value-added services (VAS) have been implemented in primary and tertiary care in Malaysia to improve patients’ accessibility to their follow-up medication supplies. Previous studies on VAS have evaluated patient satisfaction and waiting time, but none have investigated the effects of VAS...

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Published in:Drugs & therapy perspectives : for rational drug selection and use 2020-12, Vol.36 (12), p.590-597
Main Authors: Maruan, Khalidah, Md Isa, Khairil Anuar, Sulaiman, Norharlina, Karuppannan, Mahmathi
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Background Value-added services (VAS) have been implemented in primary and tertiary care in Malaysia to improve patients’ accessibility to their follow-up medication supplies. Previous studies on VAS have evaluated patient satisfaction and waiting time, but none have investigated the effects of VAS on adherence to refills and medications. This study aimed to compare medication and refill adherence scores between patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) using the Conventional Counter Service (CCS) and Telephone and Collect (T&C) service, and to determine the predictors associated with better adherence status. Methods A comparative, cross-sectional, self-administered survey was conducted at one of the health clinics in Klang City. Patients who attended the outpatient pharmacy and had been dispensed at least one type of T2DM medication for at least 6 months were selected using convenience sampling. The survey, adopted from a previous study, contained 28 items: demographic characteristics (9 items), medication refill supply and collection (7 items), and Adherence to Refills and Medications Scale (ARMS; 12 items). Data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS ® ) software version 24. Results A total of 112 respondents from CCS and 100 respondents from the T&C group participated in the survey. The T&C group had significantly better (i.e. lower) mean ARMS total and subscale scores than the CCS group. Patients who were retired, had shorter travel distances to their pharmacy and who assigned someone else to collect their medication had significantly better adherence. Conclusions Pharmacy VAS could be an effective option in improving adherence to medications and refills in patients with T2DM. Further research is needed to assess its generalizability to other chronic diseases and to various types of healthcare settings in Malaysia.
ISSN:1172-0360
1179-1977
DOI:10.1007/s40267-020-00776-0