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WHAT'S NEW
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August health news: The dangers of not taking medications as prescribed
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If you fail to follow your doctor's orders, you could end up in the hospital. Find out why patients aren't taking their medications as directed.
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By Heather Camlot
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Patients who refuse to take their medicine as prescribed are doing themselves and the health care system more harm than good, two new studies reveal.
According to a 12-week study at Vancouver General Hospital, more than one in nine emergency room visits were medication-related. Of those, 28 per cent were due to non-adherence -- not taking medication as prescribed -- state researchers in the Jun. 3 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Not only can skipping or improperly taking medication threaten a patient's life, it's also a drain on hospital resources as these preventable drug-related incidences translate into hospital admittance and longer stays than for other patients.
Why we don't take our medication
Another survey by Leger Marketing reveals that almost nine in 10 arthritis patients don't always take their pain medication -- even though 70 per cent acknowledge that the medicine alleviates their pain.
"It's a pretty common phenomenon these days," says Dr. Carter Thorne, a rheumatologist at South Lake Regional Hospital Centre in Newmarket, Ont. He notes the following reasons why patients don't take their medication as directed:
-fear of side effects
-belief that medication should be taken only when pain is serious
-concerns about the medication no longer working, long-term
Choosing pain over medication
According to The Arthritis Society, about one in six -- or 4 million -- Canadians aged 15 and older have arthritis, two-thirds of whom are women. The economic cost of arthritis is $4.4 billion per year.
The arthritis survey also found that:
- 24 per cent of Canadians with arthritis or joint pain frequently experience pain, but 13 per cent never take any medication to help.
- 41 per cent say their pain is getting worse.
- Arthritis or joint pain curtails physical activity (56 per cent), housework/chores (36 per cent), social activities (21 per cent) and going to work (17 per cent).
- 67 per cent take medication only when they are feeling pain, not as a preventative measure.
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