TY - JOUR T1 - Impact of initial medication non-adherence on use of healthcare services and sick leave: a longitudinal study in a large primary care cohort in Spain JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - e614 LP - e622 DO - 10.3399/bjgp17X692129 VL - 67 IS - 662 AU - Ignacio Aznar-Lou AU - Ana Fernández AU - Montserrat Gil-Girbau AU - Ramón Sabés-Figuera AU - Marta Fajó-Pascual AU - María Teresa Peñarrubia-María AU - Antoni Serrano-Blanco AU - Patricia Moreno-Peral AU - Albert Sánchez-Niubó AU - Marian March-Pujol AU - Maria Rubio-Valera Y1 - 2017/09/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/67/662/e614.abstract N2 - Background Initial medication non-adherence is highly prevalent in primary care but no previous studies have evaluated its impact on the use of healthcare services and/or days on sick leave.Aim To estimate the impact of initial medication non-adherence on the use of healthcare services, days of sick leave, and costs overall and in specific medication groups.Design and setting A 3-year longitudinal register-based study of all primary care patients (a cohort of 1.7 million) who were prescribed a new medication in Catalonia (Spain) in 2012.Method Thirteen of the most prescribed and/or costly medication subgroups were considered. All medication and medication subgroups (chronic, analgesics, and penicillin) were analysed. The number of healthcare services used and days on sick leave were considered. Multilevel multivariate linear regression was used. Three levels were included: patient, GP, and primary care centre.Results Initially adherent patients made more use of medicines and some healthcare services than non-adherent and partially adherent patients. They had lower productivity losses, producing a net economic return, especially when drugs for acute diseases (such as penicillins) were considered. Initial medication non-adherence resulted in a higher economic burden to the system in the short term.Conclusion Initial medication non-adherence seems to have a short-term impact on productivity losses and costs. The clinical consequences and long-term economic consequences of initial medication non-adherence need to be assessed. Interventions to promote initial medication adherence in primary care may reduce costs and improve health outcomes. ER -