Development of the Drug Adherence Work-up (DRAW) tool

Abstract

Objective: To develop and conduct an initial field test of the Drug Adherence Work-up (DRAW) tool, which was developed to guide pharmacists when addressing nonadherence during medication therapy management (MTM) visits.

Methods: The field test was a prospective cohort study, in which seven trained pharmacists used DRAW to evaluate patients by asking about possible reasons for nonadherence during an MTM visit. Pharmacists were notified of potentially nonadherent patients identified through drug claims data analyzed by Outcomes Pharmaceutical Health Care. The pharmacists reported on use of DRAW in an MTM claim and provided opinions about DRAW via an online survey.

Results: According to the online survey, pharmacists reported that DRAW helped them to improve the focus of their MTM services and address more adherence problems than their usual approach. They thought the tool was easy to use and well organized. Some commented that DRAW could be a useful tool for teaching pharmacists. The most common reasons reported for nonadherence were the presence of adverse effects (59.1%) or forgetting to take the medication (54.5%). More than three-fourths of patients (77.3%) indicated more than one reason for nonadherence.

Conclusion: A brief, comprehensive tool to evaluate medication nonadherence, such as DRAW, may help pharmacists address various reasons for medication nonadherence. Often nonadherence is multifaceted, which makes an inclusive tool like DRAW a useful approach; however further research is needed.