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Coping with Prescription Medication Costs: a Cross-sectional Look at Strategies Used and Associations with the Physical and Psychosocial Health of Individuals with Arthritis

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Prescription medication costs increase financial burden, often leading individuals to engage in intentional nonadherence. Little is known about what specific medication cost-coping strategies individuals with arthritis employ.

Purpose

The purposes of this study are (1) to identify characteristics of individuals with arthritis who self-report prescription medication cost-coping strategies and (2) to examine the association between medication cost-coping strategies and health status.

Methods

Seven hundred twenty-nine people self-reporting arthritis and prescription medication use completed a telephone survey. Adjusted regression models examined medication cost-coping strategies and five health status outcomes.

Results

Participants reported engaging in cost-coping strategies due to medication costs. Those borrowing money had worse psychosocial health and greater disability; those with increasing credit card debt reported worse physical functioning, self-rated health, and greater helplessness. Medication underuse was associated with worse psychosocial health, greater disability, and depressive symptoms.

Conclusion

Individuals with arthritis use multiple strategies to cope with medication costs, and these strategies are associated with adverse physical and psychosocial health status.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the following participating family practices in the NC-FM-RN for their assistance: Black River Health Services, Burgaw; Bladen Medical Associates, Elizabethtown; Blair Family Medicine, Wallace; Cabarrus Family Medicine, Concord; Cabarrus Family Medicine, Harrisburg; Cabarrus Family Medicine, Kannapolis; Cabarrus Family Medicine, Mt. Pleasant; Chatham Primary Care, Siler City; Carolinas Medical Center Biddle Point, Charlotte; Carolinas Medical Center North Park, Charlotte; Community Family Practice, Asheville; Cornerstone Medical Center, Burlington; Dayspring Family Medicine, Eden; Family Practice of Summerfield, Summerfield; Goldsboro Family Physicians, Goldsboro; Henderson Family Health Center, Henderson; Orange Family Medical Group, Hillsborough; Person Family Medical Center, Roxboro; Pittsboro Family Medicine, Pittsboro; Prospect Hill Community Health Center, Prospect Hill; Robbins Family Practice, Robbins; and Village Family Medicine, Chapel Hill. Finally, we thank the individuals who willingly participated in the study.

Grant Support

This project was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Center Rheumatic Diseases: P60-AR049465-05 and the Thurston Arthritis Research Center Training Grant 5T32-AR007416. This research was conducted while Dr. Martin was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Thurston Arthritis Research Center. She is currently a National Institute on Aging (NIA) postdoctoral research fellow, and her research is now supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the NIA.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, and Biometry, National Institute on Aging, Gateway Building, Suite 3C-309, 7201 Wisconsin Avenue, MSC 9205, Bethesda, MD, 20892-9205, USA

    Kathryn Remmes Martin PhD MPH

  2. Thurston Arthritis Research Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 3300 Thurston Bldg; CB 7280, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7280, USA

    Kathryn Remmes Martin PhD MPH, Jack Shreffler PhD, Britta Schoster MPH & Leigh F. Callahan PhD

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  1. Kathryn Remmes Martin PhD MPH
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  2. Jack Shreffler PhD
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  4. Leigh F. Callahan PhD
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Correspondence to Kathryn Remmes Martin PhD MPH.

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Martin, K.R., Shreffler, J., Schoster, B. et al. Coping with Prescription Medication Costs: a Cross-sectional Look at Strategies Used and Associations with the Physical and Psychosocial Health of Individuals with Arthritis. ann. behav. med. 44, 236–247 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-012-9380-7

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