Changed generic pill appearance disrupts therapy adherence
- By MedZine Redactie -
- Posted on
Changes in the appearance of prescribed cardiovascular medication can be associated with decreased therapy adherence. This was shown in a study published this week in Annals of Internal Medicine.
There is no specific description for the appearance of generic medication. However, changed color and shape compared to originally described medicine consequently decreases the chance that patients still take all the prescribed medicine.
The results were based on analysis of data from 10,000 cardiovascular patients that were collected between 2006 and 2011. The medication included generic beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin-II-receptor blockers and cholesterol lowering statins.
The scientists showed that the percentage of patients, who stopped picking up their regular prescription, increased to 34% when medication changes in color and to 66% with changes in shape.
Stopping medication can result in huge changes in morbidity and mortality in cardiovascular patients. According to the authors the results show that physicians and pharmacists should provide explicit information when changing to generic medication.
Source: Annals of Internal Medicine.
