Financial Strain and Medication Adherence among Diabetes Patients in an Integrated Health Care Delivery System: The Diabetes Study of Northern California ()

Objective

To examine self‐reported financial strain in relation to pharmacy utilization adherence data.

Data Sources/Study Setting

Survey, administrative, and electronic medical data from Kaiser Permanente Northern California.

Study Design

Retrospective cohort design (2006,  = 7,773).

Data Collection/Extraction Methods

We compared survey self‐reports of general and medication‐specific financial strain to three adherence outcomes from pharmacy records, specifying adjusted generalized linear regression models.

Principal Findings

Eight percent and 9 percent reported general and medication‐specific financial strain. In adjusted models, general strain was significantly associated with primary nonadherence ( = 1.37; 95 percent : 1.04–1.81) and refilling late ( = 1.34; 95 percent : 1.07–1.66); and medication‐specific strain was associated with primary nonadherence ( = 1.42, 95 percent : 1.09–1.84).

Conclusions

Simple, minimally intrusive questions could be used to identify patients at risk of poor adherence due to financial barriers.