OK boys and girls, listen up.  When you see the terms non-adherence or non-compliance in that APS you’re reading does this mean the risk is better or worse?

One in Three Patients Not Filling Prescriptions, Study Finds — AAFP News — AAFP.

For the study, Canadian researchers evaluated the electronic health records of 15,961 patients in a primary care network that included 131 physicians to estimate the incidence of primary nonadherence (failure to fill a first-time prescription) and to ferret out which drug, patient and physician characteristics might be associated with nonadherence. Patients’ health records were linked to insurer data on drugs dispensed by community-based pharmacies in relation to specific office visits.

The researchers found that slightly more than 31 percent of all initial drug prescriptions were not filled within nine months. Nonadherence was highest for expensive drugs and preventive therapies for chronic conditions such as ischemic heart disease and depression. In addition, patients with higher copayments, recent hospitalization and more severe comorbid conditions were at increased risk for nonadherence.