
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Tordoff, June 
A1  - Bagge, Michael 
A1  - Ali, Farina 
A1  - Ahmed, Samira 
A1  - Ning Choong, Jie 
A1  - Fu, Rowena 
A1  - Joe, Annie 
A1  - Nishtala, Prasad 
T1  - Older people's perceptions of prescription medicine costs and related costs: a pilot study in New Zealand
JF  - Journal of Primary Health Care
JO  - J Prim Health Care
Y1  - 2014
VL  - 6
IS  - 4
SP  - 295
EP  - 303
KW  - 
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1071/HC14295 
N2  - INTRODUCTION: Older people tend to take more medicines and prescription medicine costs may influence medicine adherence. AIM: The aim of this pilot study was to identify older people's perceptions of prescription medicine costs and related costs in four major cities across New Zealand. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered to people aged 65 years and older visiting pharmacies in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin to identify their perceptions of costs relating to prescription medicines and related pharmacy and general practice services. Data were compared between cities and examined for associations between participants' views on costs and age, sex, income, ethnicity, number of medicines, and monthly cost. RESULTS: Participants (N=107) received a median of five prescription medicines (range 1&#8211;15), at a median cost of NZ$8.00 (range 0&#8211;55.30). Median part-charges for medicines only partly funded by the government were NZ$6.25 (range 0.60&#8211;100.00), and GP consultations ranged from NZ$0&#8211;60.00. Of the participants, 89 (83.2%) thought medicine costs and 63 (58.9%) thought GP consultation costs were reasonable. Participants with median monthly medicine costs of NZ$8.33&#8211;87.00 more commonly perceived medicines as expensive or very expensive (p=0.001, Fisher's exact test). DISCUSSION: Older people in this study mostly viewed their prescription medicines and related costs as reasonable; however, 17% and 41%, respectively, found medicines costs and GP consultation costs expensive. Larger, in-depth studies across New Zealand are needed to determine the sections of the population that find these costs expensive, and to explore how this might affect medicine adherence. KEYWORDS: Aged; community health services; costs and cost analysis; New Zealand; pharmaceutical preparations 
ER  -

