Recent trends in cost-related medication nonadherence among US stroke survivors

Recent economic and health policy changes may have affected the ability of chronically ill patients to afford their medications. We assessed changes in cost-related nonadherence to medication (CRN) before and after the implementation of Medicare Part D in 2006.

We used data from the National Health Interview Survey, an annual, population-based survey of community-dwelling, noninstitutionalized US adults, to estimate CRN in 8,673 stroke survivors aged 45 years or older, representing 4.8 million survivors, for the years 1999 to 2010. The main outcome measure was CRN, defined as self-reported inability to afford prescribed medication within the past 12 months. Read more