Improved treatment satisfaction and medication adherence after readjusting oral medication regimens with the cooperation of health insurance pharmacy in type 2 diabetic patients in Japan.

Background: Treatment satisfaction and medication adherence can be improved if physicians carefully monitor the situations, check the level of difficulties patients experience when taking medications at specific times, and readjust medication regimens based on this information. However, physicians in Japan encounter difficulties in taking enough time to collect this information in clinical practice. The aim of the current study was to investigate improvements in satisfaction and adherence with the cooperation of a health insurance pharmacy in clinical practice.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 29 type 2 diabetic outpatients who were receiving their prescriptions at a medical clinic and filling prescriptions at a nearby pharmacy. The pharmacy collected information regarding satisfaction, adherence, and preferred time of taking medications, and provided these data to the clinic. The oral medication regimens for these 29 patients were readjusted based on the information obtained.

Results: After readjustments, the dosing frequency was decreased from 3.4 ± 1.2 to 1.8 ± 0.5 times/day, and the number of pills was reduced from 5.7 ± 2.0 to 4.5 ± 1.7 (both p  < 0.001). Increases in treatment satisfaction from 33 ± 12 to 44 ± 10 points ( n  = 29, p  < 0.001) were observed when assessed using a questionnaire (60-point maximum). Medication adherence based on pill counts increased from 75% ± 22% to 91% ± 14% ( n  = 24, p  < 0.001) (5 patients were excluded due to missing data).

Conclusions: Treatment satisfaction and medication adherence were improved after readjustments of oral medication regimens with the cooperation of a health insurance pharmacy in clinical practice in Japan.