Evidence map›Paper›PMID 19398684›Full record

ArticleArchives of internal medicine2009

Cost sharing and the initiation of drug therapy for the chronically ill.

Matthew D Solomon, Dana P Goldman, Geoffrey F Joyce, José J Escarce

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Archives of internal medicine, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
26.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Prevalence and predictors of primary nonadherence to medications prescribed in primary care.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2023
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  11. The association between adherence to cardiovascular medications and healthcare utilization.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2016
    Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Experiences addressing health-related financial challenges with disease management among African American women with asthma.The Journal of asthma : official journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma · 2014
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Matthew D SolomonDepartment of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA . msolomon@stanford.edu
Dana P Goldman
Geoffrey F Joyce
José J Escarce
Stanford University · US

Funding

Improving Pharmacy Benefit DesignR01AG029514 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI GOLDMAN, DANA P · 2008 to 2011
$1.1M
Understanding How Insurance Affects Persons with Multip*R03HS013869 · AHRQ · RAND CORPORATION · PI SOLOMON, MATTHEW D · 2003 to 2003
–
AHRQ HHS R03 HS013869AHRQ HHS R03 HS013869-01NIA NIH HHS R01 AG029514
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIncreased cost sharing reduces utilization of prescription drugs, but little evidence demonstrates how this reduction occurs or the factors associated with price sensitivity.

methodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study of older adults with employer-provided drug coverage from 1997 to 2002 from 31 different health plans. We measured the time until initiation of medical therapy for 17 183 patients with newly diagnosed hypertension, diabetes, or hypercholesterolemia.

resultsFor all study conditions, higher copayments were associated with delayed initiation of therapy. In survival models, doubling copayments resulted in large reductions in the predicted proportion of patients initiating pharmacotherapy at 1 and 5 years after diagnosis: for hypertension, 54.8% vs 39.9% at 1 year and 81.6% vs 66.2% at 5 years (P < .001); for hypercholesterolemia, 40.2% vs 31.1% at 1 year and 64.3% vs 53.8% at 5 years (P < .002); and for diabetes, 45.8% vs 40.0% at 1 year and 69.3% vs 62.9% at 5 years (P < .04). However, patients' rate of initiation and sensitivity to copayments strongly depended on their prior experience with prescription drugs. Those without prior drug use (26.1%, 10.4%, and 12.9%) initiated later (833, >1170, and >1402 days later in median time until initiation) and were far more price sensitive (increase of 34.5%, 20.1%, and 27.2% remaining untreated after 5 years when copayments doubled) than those with a history of drug use among patients with newly diagnosed hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes, respectively. These results were robust to a wide range of sensitivity analyses.

conclusionsHigh cost sharing delays the initiation of drug therapy for patients newly diagnosed with chronic disease. This effect is greater among patients who lack experience with prescription drugs. Policy makers and physicians should consider the effects of benefits design on patient behavior to encourage the adoption of necessary care.

Indexed as

Cost SharingDrug Utilization ReviewAgedAged, 80 and overChronic DiseaseCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMultivariate AnalysisRetrospective StudiesTime Factors

Identifiers

PMID19398684
PMCPMC3875311
OpenAlexW2162125478

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.