Table 3.
Characteristics of Articles Investigating Medication Adherence and Treatment Outcomes
| No. of Articles | |
|---|---|
| Study design | |
| Retrospective | 54 (59%) |
| Prospective | 27 (30%) |
| Cross-sectional | 10 (11%) |
| Treatment or disease area studied | |
| Cardiovascular | 39 (43%)* |
| Diabetes | 18 (20%) |
| Mental health | 26 (29%) |
| Pulmonary | 14 (15%) |
| Type of treatment outcome studied | |
| Clinical outcomes | 57 (63%) |
| Resource use | 13 (14%) |
| Economic outcomes | 21 (23%) |
| Adherence: operational definition | |
| Medication possession ratio | 41 (45%) |
| Number of prescription refills in set time period | 14 (15%) |
| Patient self-report | 10 (11%) |
| Other | 26 (29%) |
*
Percentages may add up to more than 100% because of overlap of articles.