Socioeconomic Status and the Use of Medicines in the Ontario Public Drug Program

Dados Bibliográficos

ID11969491
AutoresSara Allin (0000-0002-0579-8985, University of Toronto, autor correspondente), Audrey Laporte (0000-0002-5667-9206, University of Toronto)
Ano2011
Volume37
Fascículo4
Páginas563-576
Data de publicação2011-12-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCanadian Public Policy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0317-0861 • E-ISSN: 1911-9917
EditoraUniversity of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3138/cpp.37.4.563
OpenAlexW4232472393
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas27

Residents of Ontario aged 65 years and older are covered by a provincially funded prescription drug program. The aim of this paper is to assess the extent of inequity in prescription drug use for people eligible for Ontario Drug Benefit coverage, and to explore the different possible explanations for inequities. The analyses draw on the Canadian Community Health Survey from 2005, which is linked to pharmacy and Ontario Health Insurance Plan claims data. We model the number of therapeutically different prescription drugs and the total expenditures on medications on a set of health, demographic, and socioeconomic indicators, and we calculate the concentration index of income-related inequality in medicine use. The results show that low-income individuals who have enrolled in the reduced cost-sharing program on average use more medications than those with higher income, even after adjusting for a comprehensive set of health and demographic variables. While Ontario's public drug program appears to have ensured access to medications for low-income seniors, the results of this study raise concerns about the potential inappropriateness of medication use and point to a gap in drug policy in Ontario

Drug · Environmental health · Family medicine · Medical prescription · Population · Prescription drug · Public health · Socioeconomic status · Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life · Healthcare Policy and Management · Medication Adherence and Compliance · Medicine · Nursing · Gerontology · Pharmacy