Quantifying the impact of non-adherence to drug therapy: a technical note concerning an application of a branch and bound algorithm

Health Care Manag Sci. 2008 Sep;11(3):302-5. doi: 10.1007/s10729-007-9047-2.

Abstract

Pharmacokinetic models typically rely on a key assumption that patients take their medication as prescribed, whereas this is often not the case. We present a branch and bound algorithm that can be used to estimate the time-varying probability that, given a specified pattern of nonadherence to a prescribed regimen, a patient receives no therapeutic benefit from treatment. Use of this algorithm is a much faster method for obtaining this probability than exhaustive computation of the relevant probability distribution. The use of this algorithm to assess, in quantitative terms, the impact of non-adherence on the effectiveness of treatment provides a rational basis for evaluating the potential harm to patients.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms*
  • Humans
  • Models, Statistical
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations / administration & dosage*
  • Pharmacokinetics
  • Treatment Refusal / statistics & numerical data*

Substances

  • Pharmaceutical Preparations