60 Non-Adherence patterns and reasons among immigrants with polypharmacy in Denmark

Abstract EP3.3, e-Poster Terminal 3, September 4, 2025, 10:05 - 10:25 Aim With polypharmacy being widespread, mitigating non-adherence is increasingly important, since it can lead to misunderstandings, misdiagnosing, unnecessary and examinations, and exacerbate undesirable polypharmacy. We examined polypharmacy and non-adherence patterns and reasons among a group of immigrant patients at excess risk of experiencing barriers to medicine adherence. Methods Medicine consumption was thoroughly evaluated by a pharmacist during a semi-structured interview. Comparing to the prescriptions in the Shared Medical Record, non-adherence was quantified as the sum of 1) medicine not taken, 2) medicine taken incorrectly, and 3) prescription medicine taken without a prescription. Results A total of 130 patients were included in this study. The average number of prescribed drugs was 8,3. Average total non-adherence of 4,5 drugs per person. No baseline characteristics were significantly associated with non-adherence. Lastly, we analyzed subjective reasons for non-adherence, and found that the reasons economy, misunderstandings, lack of disease understanding, and memory problems were significantly associated with the degree of total non-adherence. Conclusion For our patient group non-adherence is widespread, amounting to non-adherence issues equivalent to > 50% of the number of prescribed drugs. Moreover, we have found that the only significant determinants of non-adherence - apart from the number of prescriptions - are subjective factors, most of which can be alleviated with improved communication interventions.