Impact of pharmacy channel on adherence to oral oncolytics.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Oral chemotherapy is increasingly prescribed to treat cancer. Despite its benefits, concerns have been raised regarding adherence to therapy. The study objective was to compare and measure adherence, persistence, and abandonment in patients filling prescriptions in traditional retail (TR) versus specialty pharmacy (SP) channels.

Methods

Using a retrospective cohort design, we selected newly treated patients aged ≥18 years with a prescription for erlotinib, capecitabine, or imatinib during 2007-2011 from a Medco population of both United States commercial and Medicare health plans. Patients were classified according to pharmacy channel providing the medication. Abandonment was defined as a reversal following initial approval of the index prescription claim with no

SUBMITTER: Stokes M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5477418 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature