The American journal of managed care
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Evaluation of a packaging approach to improve cholesterol medication adherence.
Elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, a leading cause of death in the United States. Our goal was to evaluate a simple, scalable, and affordable medication packaging method for improving cholesterol medication adherence and subsequently lowering LDL-C levels. ⋯ In a sample of US veterans, prefilled calendared blister packaging provided an inexpensive method for improving cholesterol medication adherence.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Treatment barriers among younger and older socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers.
Underutilization of smoking cessation treatments contributes to high rates of smoking in socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Guided by a conceptual framework, the present study explored how healthcare provider factors, social environment characteristics, and cessation beliefs influence treatment utilization among low-income smokers and whether these associations vary by age. ⋯ In this sample of low-income smokers, interest in quitting was high but treatment utilization was low. Increasing utilization of cessation treatments via interventions that target issues specific to low-income smokers, including healthcare provider access and advice, the home environment, and motivation to quit, is an important step toward reducing smoking rates in this population.