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Dr. Nancy Petry, and her University
of Connecticut team, conducted a meta-analysis comprising 21 studies in which
incentives were offered to people taking drugs for TB, substance abuse, HIV,
hepatitis, schizophrenia, and stroke prevention. In the studies, researchers
monitored adherence either by directly observing patients or by using
electronic caps that recorded when medicine bottles were opened. The available
incentives included money, food, clothing, grocery vouchers, and bus tokens.
In one study, HIV patients could
earn up to $70 a week for taking their drugs correctly during a four-week
period. Ninety percent of those offered the reward took their pills, compared
to 69 percent who received no financial incentive. In another, 64 percent of TB
patients who received a $5 reward for each clinic visit completed the nine- to
12-month regimen, compared to 27 percent who did not get a reward.
The highest levels of adherence were
seen in programs where patients could earn $50 a week or more. Rewards offered
at least once a week were more likely to encourage compliance, and the longer
the incentive was available, the better.
Petry noted that the issue becomes
more complicated in regard to drugs that must be taken lifelong, such as HIV
medications. But, she said, offering incentives also could be cost-effective
for health insurers, especially for blood pressure and cholesterol drugs.
Recent studies have found that fewer
than half of patients follow doctors’ medication orders, even for
life-threatening conditions, and an estimated 130,000 Americans die annually
because they did not take their drugs to prevent heart disease.
But Dr. Mark Pauly, a health care
cost researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, commented that many doctors
would find themselves paying patients who would have taken their prescriptions
anyway.
The study,
“Financial Reinforcers for Improving Medication Adherence: Findings from a
Meta-analysis,” was published online in the American Journal of Medicine
(07.16.12).
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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