UH researchers found that African American women have the lowest adherence to medications used for prevention and treatment of breast cancer. They are taking a team science approach to solve this.
Meghna Trivedi, an associate professor of pharmacy practice and translational research at the University of Houston, and her research team are studying medication adherence at Houston Methodist Hospital and the Harris Health System. They have found that the minority patients with low socioeconomic status have poor medication adherence. Among them, African American women have the lowest adherence to medications used for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer.
The American Heart Association estimates that medication non-adherence— not taking medication as prescribed and directed by a health care provider— results in the deaths of 125,000 Americans and a cost of $300 billion to the health care system each year. Trivedi and her team are developing and testing unique patient-centered interventions to improve adherence to breast cancer medications in African American patients.
Trivedi’s team asked themselves “what is the best way to emphasize to their patients the importance of taking their medications properly?”
Trivedi thought a theater-like educational video had the potential to resonate with patients if it is done in a culturally sensitive manner.
Their current project is to develop this video. The script is being written by a Houston-area African American playwright with help from a clinical team and with input from African American breast cancer survivors. Trivedi and her team have also hired professional Houston-based African American actors to perform the script.
Trivedi and her team have discovered that there are several factors that influence medication adherence. Those being: obesity or extreme obesity, those who take the medication for prevention rather than treatment and those with other comorbidities, such as depression.
“This indicates that we need to do a better job of educating people not only about medication adherence but also about their overall health. We also need to better address complexities in regimen, side effects, and drug interaction to improve outcomes in patients,” Trivedi said.
This research is still in the early stages. Trivedi and her team hope to expand the project to determine the impact of interventions they are designing.
They would also like to explore other barriers in order to improve overall health in patients. Trivedi says, however, that the first step is to make the community aware of her team’s research.”
Image: Getty Images/Hiraman
