What determines the duration of patient medication compliance in patients with chronic disease: are we looking in the wrong place?

Objectives: The objective of this study was to do a pilot inquiry, to determine whether physicians with similar practices in the same neighborhood demonstrated any difference in the duration of compliance among their patients. Methods: Through a cooperating urban community pharmacy, patients with prescriptions for hypertension and type II diabetes were identified for this pilot study. Patients refill medication records were searched to determine the average number of months of drug regimen compliance. The patient data of the four local physicians were separated and compared. Results: One physician was able to generate refill durations nearly double that of the average duration of medication refills seen in the patients consulting the several other nearby physicians. Conclusion: In this pilot study, it was determined that there are differences in the compliance behavior of patients attending different physicians. We can conclude that some communication or personality characteristics of some physicians appear to be more successful in achieving higher compliance. Subsequent studies should identify those which may be at least partially responsible for this finding.