Saskatchewan residents are not taking their medications properly according to a new survey conducted by Insights West.

One in 4 people say they stop taking medications before advised. The same number admit they make adjustments to prescription dosage, size, or frequency without consulting a healthcare professional.

London Drugs Pharmacist Danny Lee, "42% of Saskatchewan Residents are not taking their prescriptions properly - that could be a quarter of them stop taking their medication before it's done to not taking their full dose, or not even filling their prescription."

"Sometimes, a quarter of the people according to the study attribute it to forgetfulness. It may be, for example, antibiotics after taking them for a few days the symptoms are gone, not necessarily the bacteria gone, they just stopped taking it because they feel better. There could be blood pressure medications where you don't always feel symptoms, but when you check your blood pressure it's high so the doctor has given you a medication. After a few weeks of taking the medication, you feel fine, there are no symptoms there necessarily, but I don't feel like I'm sick so I stop taking my medication or something like that."

Pharmacists are trained to identify a wide range of medication issues and ensure the safe and effective use of prescriptions. While awareness about their expertise in this area is high, the poll revealed that Saskatchewan residents are getting or asking for as much help as they could be from pharmacists. For example, the vast majority of Saskatchewan residents are aware that pharmacists offer to counsel on the safe use of medications, but only one in three say they use this service. Nearly nine in ten say they are aware pharmacists can review current prescription medications to help minimize drug interactions and ensure maximum effectiveness, yet only about one in three say they have consulted a pharmacist on this topic. Just under half report asking pharmacists for advice for managing side effects and drug interactions. Results are based on a study done from February 13th to 28th among a sample of 351 Saskatchewan adults. 

"Definitely with an antibiotic, it is important that you take the antibiotic properly and complete the course. If you do not finish the course that can lead to antibiotic resistance where the antibiotic helped treat your condition this time even though you didn't complete it all. But if you did get the same condition again with the same antibiotic, the bacteria may have some resistance to the antibiotic if you do not finish the course."

Medication reviews and pharmacist consultations are safeguards designed to make sure people take medications correctly. They also help patients understand the purpose and potential downsides of all meds to help them avoid serious drug side effects, drug interactions, and even overdoses. Lee goes on to say, "Sometimes we determine that a patient's medications may not be working together ideally, or they might even be working against each other slightly, or they could be redundant. Each person experiences different interactions and side effect, which makes an individualized consultation even more important.'