Pharmacy accessibility and cost-related underuse of prescription medications in low-income Black and Hispanic urban communities

Journal of the American Pharmacists Association
March–April, 2017, Volume 57, Issue 2, Pages 162–169.e1

Dima Mazen Qato, Jocelyn Wilder, Shannon Zenk, Andrew Davis, Jennifer Makelarski, Stacy Tessler Lindau

Abstract

Objectives

Policy efforts to reduce the cost of prescription medications in the US have failed to reduce disparities in cost-related underuse. Little is known about the relationships between pharmacy accessibility, utilization, and cost-related underuse of prescription medications among residents of low-income minority communities. The aim of this work was to examine the association between pharmacy accessibility, utilization, and cost-related underuse of prescription medications among residents of predominantly low-income Black and Hispanic urban communities.
Methods

Data from a population-based probability sample of adults 35 years of age and older residing on the South Side of Chicago in 2012-2013 were linked with the use of geocoded information on the type and location of the primary and the nearest pharmacy. Multivariable regression models were used to examine associations between pharmacy accessibility, utilization of and travel distance to the primary pharmacy, and cost-related underuse overall and by pharmacy type.

SEGUIR LEYENDO