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allied
academies
International Conference on
FAMILY MEDICINE AND FAMILY PHYSICIANS
October 16-17, 2017 | Toronto, Canada
Arch Gen Intern Med 2017 | Volume 1 Issue 3
Background:
It is estimated that on an average up to 50% of
patients are non-compliant with their medication, resulting
in 28% emergency room visits costing about $8.5 billion
annually.
Objectives:
The purpose of this study was to examine,
what if any, differences are there between medical versus
psychiatric non-compliant patients with regard to use of the
emergency department (ED).
Methods:
A random sample of patients who present to the
ED for medical or psychiatric illnesses and who state that
they were non-compliant with their medicine were given
the National Health Access Survey. They were asked about
sources of medical care, drug compliance and reason for
non-compliance.
Results:
There were a total of 300 participants in the study.
Therewas no significant difference in the reason bothmedical
and psychiatric patients gave for being non-compliant with
their medications that resulted in their ED visit. Each group
cited cost as the number one reason for not taking their
medication as prescribed. The psychiatric participants who
were more likely to get admitted disposition (p=.00), not
afford mental health care (p=.01), were not able to get care
from other places and used the ED for their psychiatric care
(p=.02).
Conclusion:
There was no difference between the two
populations with regards to their reasons for non-
compliance that brought them to the ED. Non-compliance
of the psychiatric patients compared to the medical patients
lead to a higher admission rate.
e:
leszun@gmail.comNon-compliance in the emergency department: Is there a difference between medical and psychiatric
patient’s reasons and use of the emergency department
Leslie S Zun
Sinai Health System, USA