Skip to main content
NCBI home page
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology logoLink to British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
. 1981 Jan;11(1):31–34. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1981.tb01098.x

Does the frequency of daily dosage influence compliance with digoxin therapy?

A J Taggart, G D Johnston, D G McDevitt
PMCID: PMC1401694  PMID: 7213506

Abstract

1 The influence of daily dosage frequency on drug compliance has been studied in 80 outpatients for whom maintenance digoxin 0.25 mg daily had been prescribed. 2 Each patient took one tablet (0.25 mg) daily, two tablets (0.125 mg) daily and four tablets (0.0625 mg) daily in randomised order for 2 month periods. 3 Compliance was assessed by tablet counting and by serial measurement of the plasma digoxin concentration. 4 Of the 67 patients (100%) who could have completed the study, 19 (28.4%) were withdrawal for a variety of reasons; in the majority these were consistent with gross non-compliance. 5 The remaining 48 patients (71.6%) took significantly more tablets when prescribed once daily (98.5 +/- 1.0% of the total) or twice daily (96.4 +/- 1.6%) than when given four times daily (92.2 +/- 1.9%). However, there were no significant differences between the plasma digoxin levels obtained at the three dosage frequencies. 6 We conclude that the small improvement in compliance with once or twice daily dosage was clinically unimportant. Dosage frequency did not appear to have a major influence on the grossly non-compliant patients.

Full text

PDF
31

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Gatley M. S. To be taken as directed. J R Coll Gen Pract. 1968 Jul;16(1):39–44. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Johnston G. D., Kelly J. G., McDevitt D. G. Do patients take digoxin? Br Heart J. 1978 Jan;40(1):1–7. doi: 10.1136/hrt.40.1.1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Johnston G. D., McDevitt D. G. Digoxin compliance in patients from general practice. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1978 Oct;6(4):339–343. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1978.tb00861.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Johnston G. D., McDevitt D. G. Is maintenance digoxin necessary in patients with sinus rhythm? Lancet. 1979 Mar 17;1(8116):567–570. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(79)91002-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Johnston G. D., McDevitt D. G. Variations of plasma digoxin concentrations in the equilibrium state after multiple dosing. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1978 Jan;5(1):92–93. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1978.tb01606.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Koch-Weser J., Klein S. W. Procainamide dosage schedules, plasma concentrations, and clinical effects. JAMA. 1971 Mar 1;215(9):1454–1460. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Ojala K., Karjalainen J., Reissell P. Radioimmunoassay of digoxin. Lancet. 1972 Jan 15;1(7742):150–150. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(72)90718-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Parkin D. M., Henney C. R., Quirk J., Crooks J. Deviation from prescribed drug treatment after discharge from hospital. Br Med J. 1976 Sep 18;2(6037):686–688. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6037.686. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Porter A. M. Drug defaulting in a general practice. Br Med J. 1969 Jan 25;1(5638):218–222. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5638.218. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Wilson M., Morgan G., Morgan T. The effect on blood pressure of beta-adrenoceptor blocking drugs administered once daily and their duration of action when therapy is ceased. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1976 Oct;3(5):857–861. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1976.tb00638.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology are provided here courtesy of British Pharmacological Society

RESOURCES