Publications by authors named "Marsha Pierre-Jacques"
Background: Access to antiretroviral therapy has dramatically expanded in Africa in recent years, but there are no validated approaches to measure treatment adherence in these settings.
Methods: In 16 health facilities, we observed a retrospective cohort of patients initiating antiretroviral therapy. We constructed eight indicators of adherence and visit attendance during the first 18 months of treatment from data in clinic and pharmacy records and attendance logs.
Context: Cost-related medication nonadherence (CRN) has been a persistent problem for individuals who are elderly and disabled in the United States. The impact of Medicare prescription drug coverage (Part D) on CRN is unknown.
Objective: To estimate changes in CRN and forgoing basic needs to pay for drugs following Part D implementation.
Background: New policies regulating physician/pharmaceutical company relationships propose to eliminate access to free prescription drug samples. Little is known about the prevalence of patient activity in requesting or receiving free prescription drug samples, or the characteristics of patients who access drug samples.
Objective: To determine the prevalence of free sample access and to examine demographic, clinical, and insurance characteristics of Medicare beneficiaries who access free samples.
Background: Although several national studies have attempted to measure medication nonadherence due to cost in cross-sectional studies of the elderly and disabled, little information exists on the psychometric properties of these measures over time.
Objectives: Examine the test-retest reliability of several recently published measures of cost-related medication nonadherence, among elderly community.
Methods: We developed a questionnaire and tested the reliability of measures of cost-related medication nonadherence and general cost-reduction strategies in a sample of 185 elderly in eastern Massachusetts surveyed twice (1-2 months apart).
Context: Treatment for depression can be expensive and depression can affect the use of other medical services, yet there is little information on how depression affects the prevalence of cost-related medication nonadherence (CRN) in elderly patients and patients with disabilities.
Objective: To quantify the presence of CRN in depressed and nondepressed elderly Medicare beneficiaries and nonelderly Medicare beneficiaries with disabilities prior to the implementation of the Medicare Drug Benefit.
Design And Setting: 2004 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey.
Background: Prior to implementation of the Medicare drug benefit, we estimated the prevalence of cost-related medication nonadherence (CRN) among Medicare enrollees, including elderly and nonelderly disabled beneficiaries.
Methods: In the fall of 2004, detailed measures of CRN (skipping or reducing doses or not filling prescriptions because of cost) were added to the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey. We examined the prevalence of CRN nationally and by Medicare eligibility subgroups (elderly vs nonelderly disabled beneficiaries), drug coverage status, socioeconomic status, self-rated health, and number of chronic medical conditions.
Ethnic diversity and lower socioeconomic populations are poorly captured in most studies of osteoporosis and fracture risk. This article describes a prospective, observational study designed to analyze risk factors for fracture in an ambulatory, ethnically diverse, urban population aged > or =55 yr. The goal of the study was to determine the number of fractures associated with hypovitaminosis D (< or =15 ng/mL serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D) and osteopenia (T-score <-1.
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