Regular Access And Adherence To Medications Of The Specialized Component Of Pharmaceutical Services

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of the adherence to the medications of the SpecializedComponent of Pharmaceutical Services and its association with regular access in users of thesemedications in the municipality of São Leopoldo, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study with adults aged 20 years and over, who are users ofmedications of the Specialized Component of Pharmaceutical Services. Sampling was carried outconsecutively for users who accessed the service of the Specialized Component of PharmaceuticalServices during the period from December 2014 to March 2015. Adherence was measured bythe Brief Medication Questionnaire, and adherents were defined as those who did not presentbarriers to adherence in the three domains. Regular access was defined as getting all medicationsin the last three months, regardless of how it was obtained (paying or for free). Data analysis wasperformed using Poisson regression with robust variance.RESULTS: We interviewed 414 subjects, being them mostly women (60.9%), with mean age of55 years (SD = 13), and using a single medication of the Specialized Component of PharmaceuticalServices (68.1%). The prevalence of adherence to the medications used in the last seven dayswas 28.3% and the prevalence of free regular access was 46.1%, and 25.7% did not have access toall treatment. After adjusting for the number of medications in the Specialized Component ofPharmaceutical Services and the number of medications of continuous use, users who had freeregular access in the last three months were 60% more likely to show adherence. For individualswith paid regular access, no association was found between access and adherence.CONCLUSIONS: The regularity in the free access to the medications of the SpecializedComponent of Pharmaceutical Services has an impact on the behavior of users, contributing totheir commitment to treatment and self-care. The Specialized Component of PharmaceuticalServices needs programming in order to avoid irregular access, which suggests a significantlimitation of the drug policies in Brazil