25pc of patients don't take prescribed medication, survey finds
A quarter of patients at public specialist outpatient clinics don't take their medication as instructed, pharmacists have found in the first survey of its kind.
A quarter of patients at public specialist outpatient clinics don't take their medication as instructed, pharmacists have found in the first survey of its kind.
Medicine wasted as a result is estimated to cost the Hospital Authority more than HK$100 million a year, the Society of Hospital Pharmacists said.
The society said the long gap between appointments at public clinics was partly to blame and called for pharmacists to be given a role in monitoring medication compliance. "The current medical system focuses on treatment and diagnosis only … we think follow-up by pharmacists is equally important," president William Chui Chun-ming said.
In the survey, 1,500 questionnaires were handed out to patients aged 55 and over between November last year and January.
It found that, on average, 25 per cent did not take their medication according to instructions, while 20 per cent of medication was wasted. Skin patients had the highest non-compliance rate of 41 per cent. Psychiatrics, asthma and surgery followed with 27 to 33 per cent.
The society's associate director, Ewan So Yiu-wah, said the high rate among dermatology patients could be due to the diverse types of medication.
"Patients are usually prescribed different strengths of topical steroids, which have to be applied on different body areas … they might also feel reluctant to use steroids, fearing the possible side effects," said So.
But he said that topical steroids - applied externally - had fewer side effects than oral medication.
Chui said the interval between appointments, the amount of medication and the patient's attitude were the main factors affecting compliance. More than a quarter of patients who had to wait up to a year for an appointment did not comply.
