HealthDay (3/28, Preidt) reports, “Adult diabetes patients who don’t understand basic health information are less likely to continue taking newly prescribed antidepressants,” according to a study published in the March issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine. “The nearly 1,400 patients in the study were followed for 12 months after being prescribed an antidepressant. Most of the patients filled the prescription at least once, but 43 percent did not refill the prescription and nearly two-thirds had stopped taking their antidepressant medication by the end of the study.” The study authors found that nearly three-quarters (72%) of the patients had difficulties comprehending basic instructions regarding their health, a finding they termed “poor health literacy.” It was this group of patients that had a lesser likelihood of taking antidepressants prescribed for them.
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— “Poor ‘Health Literacy’ Keeps Patients From Taking Meds, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 27, 2013.