IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i22p11966-d679050.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Factors Associated with Free Medicine Use in Patients with Hypertension and Diabetes: A 4-Year Longitudinal Study on Full Coverage Policy for Essential Medicines in Taizhou, China

Author

Listed:
  • Zhigang Guo

    (Department of Pharmacy, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China
    International Research Center for Medicinal Administration, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
    Both authors contributed equally to this paper.)

  • Lin Bai

    (School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
    Both authors contributed equally to this paper.)

  • Zhenhuan Luo

    (School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China)

  • Mengyuan Fu

    (School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China)

  • Liguang Zheng

    (Department of Pharmacy, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China)

  • Xiaodong Guan

    (International Research Center for Medicinal Administration, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
    School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China)

  • Luwen Shi

    (International Research Center for Medicinal Administration, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
    School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China)

Abstract

Full coverage policies for medicines have been implemented worldwide to alleviate medicine cost burden and promote access to medicines. However, few studies have explored the factors associated with free medicine use in patients with chronic diseases. This study aimed to analyze the utilization of free medicines by patients with hypertension and diabetes after the implementation of the full coverage policy for essential medicines (FCPEM) in Taizhou, China, and to explore the factors associated with free medicine use. We conducted a descriptive analysis of characteristics of patients with and without free medicine use and performed a panel logit model to examine factors associated with free medicine use, based on an electronic health record database in Taizhou from the baseline year (12 months in priori) to three years after FCPEM implementation. After FCPEM implementation, the proportion of patients without any free medicine use decreased from 31.1% in the baseline year to 28.9% in the third year, while that of patients taking free medicines rose from 11.0% to 22.8%. Patients with lower income or education level, those with agricultural hukou , patients aged 65 and above, married patients, and patients in the Huangyan district were more likely to take free medicines. In conclusion, FCPEM contributed to improved medicine access, especially in vulnerable populations. Local policy makers should consider expanding the coverage of FCPEM to other types of medicines and cultivate the potential of social supports for patients to enhance the effectiveness of FCPEM policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhigang Guo & Lin Bai & Zhenhuan Luo & Mengyuan Fu & Liguang Zheng & Xiaodong Guan & Luwen Shi, 2021. "Factors Associated with Free Medicine Use in Patients with Hypertension and Diabetes: A 4-Year Longitudinal Study on Full Coverage Policy for Essential Medicines in Taizhou, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-10, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:22:p:11966-:d:679050
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/22/11966/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/22/11966/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Laba, Tracey-Lea & Cheng, Lucy & Worthington, Heather C. & McGrail, Kimberlyn M. & Chan, Fiona K.I. & Mamdani, Muhammad & Law, Michael R., 2020. "What happens to drug use and expenditure when cost sharing is completely removed? Evidence from a Canadian provincial public drug plan," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(9), pages 977-983.
    2. Ying Wang & Yulei Zhu & Hang Shi & Xiaoluan Sun & Na Chen & Xin Li, 2019. "The Effect of the Full Coverage of Essential Medicines Policy on Utilization and Accessibility of Primary Healthcare Service for Rural Seniors: A Time Series Study in Qidong, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-14, November.
    3. Edward Adinkrah & Mohsen Bazargan & Cheryl Wisseh & Shervin Assari, 2020. "Adherence to Hypertension Medications and Lifestyle Recommendations among Underserved African American Middle-Aged and Older Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-15, September.
    4. Jianjian Liu & Ying Yang & Jiayi Zhou & Tianyu Liu & Wenjie Zhang & Liuyi Wei & Shaotang Wu, 2020. "Prevalence and Associated Factors of Compliance Behaviors among Middle-Aged and Older Hypertensive Patients in China: Results from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-15, October.
    5. Claudiu Morgovan & Smaranda Adina Cosma & Madalina Valeanu & Anca Maria Juncan & Luca Liviu Rus & Felicia Gabriela Gligor & Anca Butuca & Delia Mirela Tit & Simona Bungau & Steliana Ghibu, 2020. "An Exploratory Research of 18 Years on the Economic Burden of Diabetes for the Romanian National Health Insurance System," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-16, June.
    6. Jaume Puig‐Junoy & Pilar García‐Gómez & David Casado‐Marín, 2016. "Free Medicines Thanks to Retirement: Impact of Coinsurance Exemption on Pharmaceutical Expenditures and Hospitalization Offsets in a national health service," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(6), pages 750-767, June.
    7. Rabia Khan & Karolina Socha-Dietrich, 2018. "Investing in medication adherence improves health outcomes and health system efficiency: Adherence to medicines for diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidaemia," OECD Health Working Papers 105, OECD Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qian Xing & Wenxi Tang & Mingyang Li & Shuailong Li, 2022. "Has the Volume-Based Drug Purchasing Approach Achieved Equilibrium among Various Stakeholders? Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-22, April.
    2. Stijn Baert & Bas van der Klaauw & Gijsbert van Lomwel, 2018. "The effectiveness of medical and vocational interventions for reducing sick leave of self‐employed workers," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 139-152, February.
    3. Américo, Pedro & Rocha, Rudi, 2020. "Subsidizing access to prescription drugs and health outcomes: The case of diabetes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    4. Pilar García-Gómez & Toni Mora & Jaume Puig-Junoy, 2018. "Does €1 Per Prescription Make a Difference? Impact of a Capped Low-Intensity Pharmaceutical Co-Payment," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 407-414, June.
    5. Zhao, Jie & Zheng, Jianzhong, 2024. "Effective policy research of county and township health sector integration in China: Empirical evidence from the difference-in-differences model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    6. Lei Chen & Ying Yang & Mi Luo & Borui Hu & Shicheng Yin & Zongfu Mao, 2020. "The Impacts of National Centralized Drug Procurement Policy on Drug Utilization and Drug Expenditures: The Case of Shenzhen, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-11, December.
    7. Di Novi, Cinzia & Leporatti, Lucia & Levaggi, Rosella & Montefiori, Marcello, 2022. "Adherence during COVID-19: The role of aging and socio-economics status in shaping drug utilization," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 1-14.
    8. Ying Wang & Yulei Zhu & Hang Shi & Xiaoluan Sun & Na Chen & Xin Li, 2019. "The Effect of the Full Coverage of Essential Medicines Policy on Utilization and Accessibility of Primary Healthcare Service for Rural Seniors: A Time Series Study in Qidong, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-14, November.
    9. Yuanyuan Ma & Anne Nolan, 2017. "Public Healthcare Entitlements and Healthcare Utilisation among the Older Population in Ireland," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(11), pages 1412-1428, November.
    10. Enrica Menditto & Caitriona Cahir & Sara Malo & Isabel Aguilar-Palacio & Marta Almada & Elisio Costa & Anna Giardini & María Gil Peinado & Mireia Massot Mesquida & Sara Mucherino & Valentina Orlando &, 2021. "Persistence as a Robust Indicator of Medication Adherence-Related Quality and Performance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-9, May.
    11. Mario Martínez-Jiménez & Pilar García-Gómez & Jaume Puig-Junoy, 2021. "The Effect of Changes in Cost Sharing on the Consumption of Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medicines in Catalonia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-21, March.
    12. Isabelle Rao & Adir Shaham & Amir Yavneh & Dor Kahana & Itai Ashlagi & Margaret L. Brandeau & Dan Yamin, 2020. "Predicting and improving patient-level antibiotic adherence," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 507-519, December.
    13. Cornelia Bala & Adriana Rusu & Dana Ciobanu & Gabriela Roman, 2022. "Length of Hospital Stay, Hospitalization Costs, and Their Drivers in Adults with Diabetes in the Romanian Public Hospital System," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-13, August.
    14. Diana I. Sima & Cosmina I. Bondor & Ioan A. Vereşiu & Norina A. Gâvan & Cristina M. Borzan, 2021. "Hospitalization Costs of Lower Limb Ulcerations and Amputations in Patients with Diabetes in Romania," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-11, February.
    15. Xiang Jing & Lingzhong Xu & Wenzhe Qin & Jiao Zhang & Lu Lu & Yali Wang & Yu Xia & An’an Jiao & Yaozu Li, 2020. "The Willingness for Downward Referral and Its Influencing Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study among Older Adults in Shandong, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-13, January.
    16. Laia Maynou & Gabriel Coll-de-Tuero & Marc Saez, 2019. "The effects of copayment in primary health care: evidence from a natural experiment," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(8), pages 1237-1248, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:22:p:11966-:d:679050. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.