The effect of prescription size on acquisition of maintenance medications

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Objective: To determine whether large prescriptions (≥90 days’ supplies) enhance the acquisition of maintenance medications by patients. Design: Study 1: multisite, retrospective cohort study evaluating outpatient digoxin use. Study 2: single-site, retrospective cohort study to confirm Study 1. Setting: Study 1: Ten Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in the Rocky Mountain region. Study 2: The only facility from Study 1 (site C) that dispensed large prescriptions of maintenance medications. Patients: Randomly selected outpatients receiving two or more digoxin prescriptions (n=176 in Study 1,n=114 in Study 2). Intervention: None. Results: The main outcome measure was the proportion of prescribed doses of maintenance medications obtained. In Study 1, patients who received at least one large digoxin prescription obtained a mean of 13 7.2% of their prescribed digoxin doses over a mean of nine months, compared with 91.3% for patients who received only small prescriptions of Conclusions: Large prescriptions facilitate the acquisition of maintenance medications but may lead to oversupplies, while small prescriptions impose a barrier to obtaining these drugs.