Implementation adherence
Implementation adherence was determined for 218 medications dispensed,
of which 66.5% had ≥80% days with at least the correct number of doses
taken (Table 3). Overall, implementation adherence was 74.2% (95% CI
69.3-79.2). Implementation adherence was high for medication for chronic
conditions (86.0%, 95% CI 79.5-92.4), but substantially lower for
pregnancy-related medication (74.3%, 95% CI 65.6-83.0) and medication
for occasional and short-term use (53.7%, 95% CI 43.0-64.3). A total
of 8 medication groups had ≥80% days with at least the correct number
of doses taken: antidepressants, antiasthmatics, antihypertensive
agents, antithrombotic agents, iron preparations, medication for
acid-related disorders, medication for immune-related inflammatory
diseases, and thyroid therapy.
We observed a statistically significant difference in implementation
adherence to pregnancy-related medication between women aged ≤30 years
(84.2%) and women aged >30 years (66.2%, p=0.04; Table
4). Although not statistically significant, implementation adherence
differed by more than 10% for pregnancy-related medication between
women with an income <\euro3,500 and women with an income
≥\euro3,500 (81.3 vs. 64.2%, p=0.07). Among women who smoked during
pregnancy, implementation was substantially lower for medication for
occasional and short-term use (29.4%) and substantially higher for
pregnancy-related medication (85.7%) compared to women who did not
smoke during pregnancy (56.2% [p=0.15] and 73.0% [p=0.14],
respectively). No other substantial difference in implementation for the
other maternal characteristics we observed.