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Prescription Medication Borrowing among Adult Patients at an Urban Medical Center

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Abstract

Prescription medication borrowing can result in adverse health outcomes. We aimed to study the patterns of borrowing prescription medications in an adult urban population seeking healthcare in the outpatient, emergency, and inpatient units of an urban medical center. Participants indicated whether they (1) had a primary care doctor, medical insurance, a prior history of substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, or chronic pain; and (2) had borrowed a prescription medication. If so, they noted the medication obtained, source, frequency of use, and reasons why they had not obtained a prescription from a licensed medical provider. Of the 641 participants, most were African American (75%), urban residents (75%), high school educated or less (71%), and lacked full-time employment (68%). Many had health insurance (90%) and had recently seen their primary medical provider (75%). Eighteen percent reported ever borrowing a prescription medication. On multivariate analysis, history of chronic pain was marginally associated with increased medication borrowing (odds ratio [OR] = 1.58) while having Medicare insurance (OR = 0.436) or a primary care medical provider routinely ask about medication usage (OR = 0.589) were significantly associated with decreased medication borrowing. The most commonly obtained medications were for pain (74%), usually in the form of opioids, and were obtained from a family member (49%) or friend (38%). Thirty-five percent of those who borrowed medications did so more than once a year, with lack of convenient access to medical care the most frequently cited reason for use (67%). Only a third of those who borrowed medications had informed their primary medical providers of the behavior. In conclusion, borrowing prescription medications is a common behavior in the population studied. Further research is warranted into interventions to reduce such use, especially the impact of methods to improve the convenience of contacting licensed medical providers.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Heather Hammer, Dr. Xiang Liu, and Sandeep Chennadi for their assistance with the statistical analysis, as well as Meredith Majczan, PharmD and Ben Wu, PharmD for their assistance with survey administration. This research was supported by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health, obtained through the Temple University Center for Minority Health Studies. This research has been previously presented as an abstract during the 2009 Meeting of the Society of General Internal Medicine in Miami, FL. The Institutional Review Board of the Temple University School of Medicine approved this project.

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Temple University Center for Minority Health Studies

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Lawrence Ward, Shaden Eldakar-Hein & Stephanie H. Ward

  2. Temple University School of Pharmacy, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Nima M. Patel & Kristin Sherlinski

  3. University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Alexandra Hanlon

Authors
  1. Lawrence Ward
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  2. Nima M. Patel
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  3. Alexandra Hanlon
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  4. Shaden Eldakar-Hein
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  5. Kristin Sherlinski
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  6. Stephanie H. Ward
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lawrence Ward.

Appendix

Appendix

Survey instrument. See next page.

Temple University Prescription Drug Use Survey

Thank you for taking the time to participate in our research study. We are trying to learn more about what medications people are taking and why. It should take you no more than 5 to 10 min to complete this questionnaire. When you finish your completed questionnaire, you will receive a Septa token as a thank you for your help.

There are some questions that ask about subjects or actions that may not be comfortable for you to share. Please understand that this survey is completely anonymous and confidential—meaning that there is no way to identify you and your answers will not be shared with anyone apart from the study team. No one outside of our project team will have access to your answers. Try to answer honestly and accurately as possible.

Any reports created as a result of the questionnaire will be reported as a group, once again so that no one will identify you personally. You may choose not to answer any question that you want.

Preamble

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Ward, L., Patel, N.M., Hanlon, A. et al. Prescription Medication Borrowing among Adult Patients at an Urban Medical Center. J Urban Health 88, 997–1014 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-011-9589-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-011-9589-y

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