Among the chronically ill, drug non-compliance is a huge problem across all disease conditions, but those with back problems (36%), asthma (34%), depression (28%) and migraines (28%) are having the toughest time taking their drugs as prescribed. Those with diabetes (50%) and hypertension (49%) are the most compliant.
Traditional healthcare organizations, however, are losing out to commercial Web sites in reaching this group. Fifty-nine percent of the chronically ill who are online have looked for healthcare information on sites such as drkoop.com or AOL's health channel.
These are some of the highlights of The Harris 10,000 Patients Study conducted by Harris Interactive. (www.harrisinteractive.com).