Open AccessMedication Complexity and Affordability in Use of Time Release Antidepressants
Author(s) -
Hong Song H.,
AlRuthia Yazed,
Tak Sunghee
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
clinical and translational science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.303
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1752-8062
pISSN - 1752-8054
DOI - 10.1111/cts.12174
Subject(s) - medical expenditure panel survey , depression (economics) , logistic regression , medicine , medical prescription , antidepressant , affect (linguistics) , antidepressant medication , psychiatry , psychology , health care , pharmacology , health insurance , anxiety , communication , economics , macroeconomics , economic growth
While time-release (TR) formulations reduce medication complexity, their increased costs may compromise medication affordability. This study examined how medication complexity and affordability affect the extent of access to TR formulations among adult patients with depression. Study subjects consisted of adults (≥ 24 years old) with reported diagnoses of depression from the 2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). Antidepressants that offer choices between TR vs. IR (immediate release) were selected. Factors related to medication complexity and affordability were identifi ed based on the Andersonfs model of health services utilization. A multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the study hypotheses while controlling for complex survey sampling in MEPS. A total of 625 working adults with depression had fi lled prescriptions with TR formulations about 60% of the time. Factors related to medication affordability and complexity were signifi cantly associated with the extent of access to TR antidepressant formulations. Identifi cation of those factors associated with the use of TR formulations would contribute to improving access as well as adherence to antidepressant drug therapy.