PMID- 35065885 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20220512 LR - 20221006 IS - 1544-3450 (Electronic) IS - 1086-5802 (Linking) VI - 62 IP - 3 DP - 2022 May-Jun TI - Primary medication nonadherence to oral oncology specialty medications. PG - 809-816.e1 LID - S1544-3191(22)00005-X [pii] LID - 10.1016/j.japh.2022.01.005 [doi] AB - BACKGROUND: Patients prescribed specialty oncology medications face logistical and financial challenges to medication procurement, leading to primary medication nonadherence (PMN). Limited research has evaluated rates and reasons for PMN within a specialty oncology population. Addressing PMN is essential to ensuring patient access and uptake and realizing benefits of these therapies. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to compute the rates of and reasons for PMN in patients prescribed oral oncology medications at an integrated health-system specialty pharmacy (IHSSP). METHODS: We performed a single-center, retrospective analysis of specialty oncology prescriptions electronically prescribed between January and December 2018. Data were extracted from electronic health record (EHR) and pharmacy claims databases. Prescriptions were PMN eligible if none of the following were met: fill of any cancer medication within the previous 180-day lookback window, duplicate prescription, cancellation within 30 days, rerouting to an external pharmacy within 30 days of prescribing, filled through alternate method, or nononcology or hematology condition. PMN was calculated by dividing eligible prescriptions unfilled during the study period by all eligible prescriptions. Reasons for a lack of prescription fulfillment were assessed via EHR review. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: We evaluated 4482 prescriptions from 1422 patients, resulting in 861 PMN-eligible prescriptions. Most PMN-eligible prescriptions (n = 668, 78%) were filled within 30 days, leaving 193 prescriptions as potential instances of PMN. After EHR review, 158 prescriptions met the exclusion criteria, resulting in a PMN rate of 4%. Of PMN prescriptions (n = 35), most were caused by clinical reasons (n = 22, 63%); however, 10 prescriptions were unfilled owing to patient decision, 2 owing to unaffordable treatment, and 1 owing to inability to reach the patient. Patients with PMN had a median age of 72 years and were mostly male (60%), with a median Charlson comorbidity index score of 7. CONCLUSION: Low rates of PMN to prescribed anticancer medications were found among electronic prescriptions intended to be filled at an IHSSP. CI - Copyright (c) 2022 American Pharmacists Association(R). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. FAU - Zuckerman, Autumn D AU - Zuckerman AD FAU - Shah, Nisha B AU - Shah NB FAU - Perciavalle, Kristin AU - Perciavalle K FAU - Looney, Brooke AU - Looney B FAU - Peter, Megan E AU - Peter ME FAU - DeClercq, Josh AU - DeClercq J FAU - Moore, Ryan AU - Moore R FAU - Choi, Leena AU - Choi L FAU - Reynolds, Victoria W AU - Reynolds VW LA - eng GR - U54 MD010722/MD/NIMHD NIH HHS/United States PT - Journal Article PT - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural DEP - 20220106 PL - United States TA - J Am Pharm Assoc (2003) JT - Journal of the American Pharmacists Association : JAPhA JID - 101176252 SB - IM MH - Aged MH - *Electronic Prescribing MH - Female MH - Humans MH - Male MH - Medical Oncology MH - Medication Adherence MH - *Pharmacies MH - Retrospective Studies EDAT- 2022/01/24 06:00 MHDA- 2022/05/14 06:00 CRDT- 2022/01/23 20:28 PHST- 2021/11/03 00:00 [received] PHST- 2021/12/14 00:00 [revised] PHST- 2022/01/04 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2022/01/24 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2022/05/14 06:00 [medline] PHST- 2022/01/23 20:28 [entrez] AID - S1544-3191(22)00005-X [pii] AID - 10.1016/j.japh.2022.01.005 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2022 May-Jun;62(3):809-816.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.japh.2022.01.005. Epub 2022 Jan 6.