A Checklist for Medication Compliance and Persistence Studies Using Retrospective Databases

Abstract

The increasing number of retrospective database studies related to medication compliance and persistence (C&P), and the inherent variability within each, has created a need for improvement in the quality and consistency of medication C&P research. This article stems from the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) efforts to develop a checklist of items that should be either included, or at least considered, when a retrospective database analysis of medication compliance or persistence is undertaken. This consensus document outlines a systematic approach to designing or reviewing retrospective database studies of medication C&P. Included in this article are discussions on data sources, measures of C&P, results reporting, and even conflict of interests. If followed, this checklist should improve the consistency and quality of C&P analyses, which in turn will help providers and payers understand the impact of C&P on health outcomes.

Evaluation of a pharmacist intervention on patients initiating pharmacological treatment for depression: A randomized controlled superiority trial

“…Non-adherence was defined as refilling <80% of the prescribed doses; a definition that has a reasonable balance between sensitivity and specificity (Hansen et al 2009) or having a treatment gap >1 month (Peterson et al 2007). …”

A New Taxonomy for Describing and Defining Adherence to Medications

“…The conceptual definitions for terms vary, and partly overlap, resulting in conceptual confusion, which adds to methodological weakness in the field. This problem is further compounded by a lack of congruence between conceptual definitions, operational definitions and measurements [20,[138][139][140][141][142].…”

Liraglutide vs Exenatide: Patient Adherence, Medication Persistence and Economic Evaluation in the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

“…The medication persistence can be defined as the length of time from initiation to discontinuation of therapy, measured by time in days [43]. Thanks to our understanding of the PDD, we can calculate the real days of treatment computed in relation to the prescribed dose by physician.…”

“…In literature several methods are reported to calculate the adherence to treatment such as Continuous Measure of Medication Acquisition (CMA) [25]- [27]; Medication Possession Ratio (MPR) [28]- [30]; Medication Refill Adherence (MRA) [31]- [33] [41]. The most utilized methods are MPR and PDC [43]. In this study we use the Received Daily Dose/Prescribed Daily Dose method for calculation of Adherence, that we produce and that isn't never used before for antidiabetic drugs.…”