Table 4.
Reasons for medication change by type of change and physician approval*
| Reason for medication change | Stopped/delayed medication | Changed medication dose | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All |
Not approved by physician |
Approved by physician |
P | All |
Not approved by physician |
Approved by physician |
P | |
| Total | 153 (100) | 68 (44.4) | 81 (52.9) | 68 (100) | 23 (33.8) | 45 (66.2) | ||
| Did not work | 13 (8.5) | 1 (1.5) | 12 (14.8) | 0.004 | 3 (4.4) | 1 (4.3) | 2 (4.4) | 0.985 |
| Side effects | 18 (11.8) | 4 (5.9) | 14 (17.3) | 0.033 | 6 (8.8) | 0 (0.0) | 5 (11.1) | 0.097 |
| Cost | 2 (1.3) | 2 (2.9) | 0 (0.0) | 0.120 | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | – |
| Canceled/postponed appointments | 20 (13.1) | 16 (23.5) | 4 (4.9) | 0.001 | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | – |
| Not available | 5 (3.3) | 5 (7.4) | 0 (0.0) | 0.013 | 6 (8.8) | 2 (8.7) | 3 (6.7) | 0.762 |
| Worried about COVID‐19 | 60 (39.2) | 37 (54.4) | 20 (24.7) | 0.000 | 12 (17.6) | 6 (26.1) | 6 (13.3) | 0.192 |
| Other illness/infection | 24 (15.7) | 9 (13.2) | 15 (18.5) | 0.382 | 2 (2.9) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (4.4) | 0.305 |
| Loss of insurance | 3 (2.0) | 3 (4.4) | 0 (0.0) | 0.056 | 1 (1.45) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (2.2) | 0.471 |
| Having a disease flare | 4 (2.6) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (4.9) | 0.063 | 28 (41.2) | 9 (39.1) | 19 (42.2) | 0.806 |
| Surgery/medical procedure | 8 (5.2) | 2 (2.9) | 6 (7.4) | 0.228 | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | – |
| Doctor recommended, unspecified reason | 3 (2.0) | 0 (0.0) | 3 (3.7) | 0.109 | 2 (2.9) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (4.4) | 0.305 |
| No longer needed (e.g., disease flare over) | 7 (4.6) | 0 (0.0) | 7 (8.6) | 0.013 | 6 (8.8) | 4 (17.4) | 2 (4.4) | 0.075 |
| Other | 14 (9.2) | 4 (5.9) | 9 (11.1) | 0.260 | 9 (13.2) | 2 (8.7) | 7 (15.6) | 0.430 |
*
Values are the number (%). Values reflect number of changes and not number of patients. Respondents could select more than one reason. Four patients did not indicate if their decision to stop medication was physician approved.