Medication Regimen Complexity and Patient-Reported Adverse Drug Events in Korean Community Pharmacies: A Cross-Sectional Study
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Design and Setting
2.2. Data Collection
2.2.1. Medication Regimen Complexity Index (MRCI-K)
2.2.2. Adherence to Refills and Medications Scale (ARMS-K)
2.2.3. Patient-Reported Adverse Drug Events (ADEs)
2.2.4. Covariates
2.3. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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| Characteristic | Total (N = 201) | Adverse Drug Event: No (N = 100) | Adverse Drug Event: Yes (N = 101) | p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mean (SD) | 64.4 (15.6) | 65.4 (14.9) | 63.4 (16.3) | 0.311 | |
| Sex, male, n (%) | 102 (50.7) | 54 (54.0) | 48 (47.5) | 0.457 | |
| Education level, n (%) | 0.817 | ||||
| High school or less | 105 (52.2) | 53 (53.0) | 52 (51.5) | ||
| College or more | 96 (47.8) | 47 (47.0) | 49 (48.5) | ||
| Income level, n (%) | 0.631 | ||||
| <3 million KRW | 74 (36.8) | 39 (39.0) | 35 (34.7) | ||
| ≥3 million KRW | 127 (63.2) | 61 (61.0) | 66 (65.3) | ||
| Perceived medication cost burden, n (%) | 75 (37.3) | 37 (37.0) | 38 (37.6) | 0.835 | |
| National insurance, n (%) | 148 (73.6) | 70 (70.0) | 78 (77.2) | 0.202 | |
| Living alone, n (%) | 33 (16.4) | 17 (17.0) | 16 (15.8) | 0.835 | |
| Medication education, n (%) | 132 (65.7) | 66 (66.0) | 66 (65.3) | 0.631 | |
| Multidose dispensing service, n (%) | 124 (61.7) | 59 (59.0) | 65 (64.4) | 0.471 | |
| Num comorbidities, mean (SD) | 1.9 (1.8) | 1.8 (1.8) | 2.0 (1.9) | 0.448 | |
| Polypharmacy (≥5 drugs), n (%) | 110 (54.7) | 49 (49.0) | 61 (60.4) | 0.093 | |
| Total medications, mean (SD) | 4.65 (2.5) | 4.80 (2.72) | 4.51 (2.4) | 0.427 | |
| MRCI-K, mean (SD) | 16.5 (11.0) | 17.5 (11.8) | 15.5 (10.1) | 0.203 | |
| ARMS-K score, mean (SD) | 43.1 (5.2) | 42.8 (5.0) | 43.3 (5.4) | 0.509 | |
| Variable | MRCI-K | Total Medications | Comorbidities | Age | ARMS-K Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRCI-K | 1 | 0.869 *** | 0.292 * | 0.124 | 0.100 |
| Total medications | 1 | 0.282 * | 0.187 ** | 0.090 | |
| Comorbidities | 1 | 0.434 * | 0.108 | ||
| Age | 1 | 0.116 | |||
| ARMS-K score | 1 |
| Variable | Coefficient (β) | 95% CI | p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polypharmacy (ref. No) | 12.97 | [10.93–15.02] | <0.001 |
| Num Comorbidities | 0.95 | [0.14–1.75] | 0.022 |
| Multidose dispensing (ref. None) | 3.04 | [0.75–5.34] | 0.01 |
| Income (ref. <3 M KRW) | −2.95 | [−5.38–−0.52] | 0.018 |
| Education (ref. ≤ High School) | −3.37 | [−5.51–−1.23] | 0.002 |
| Age | −0.07 | [−0.15–−0.00] | 0.044 |
| Sex (ref. Male) | 0.08 | [−1.97–2.12] | 0.941 |
| Living alone (ref. No) | −2.27 | [−4.98–0.45] | 0.101 |
| Medication cost burden (ref. No) | −1.66 | [−3.90–0.58] | 0.145 |
| Medication education (ref. No) | −0.22 | [−2.31–1.87] | 0.839 |
| Insurance (ref. National) | −0.37 | [−3.65–2.92] | 0.825 |
| Variable | Univariable OR (95% CI) | p-Value | Multivariable OR (95% CI) | p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRCI-K | 0.98 (0.95–1.01) | 0.13 | 0.95 (0.91–0.99) | 0.024 * |
| Age | 0.99 (0.97–1.01) | 0.179 | 0.98 (0.96–1.00) | 0.029 * |
| Number of comorbidities | 1.09 (0.90–1.33) | 0.364 | 1.27 (0.99–1.63) | 0.065 |
| Polypharmacy | 0.98 (0.56–1.72) | 0.956 | 1.80 (0.78–4.14) | 0.167 |
| Sex | 0.57 (0.32–1.02) | 0.06 | 0.58 (0.31–1.07) | 0.082 |
| Medication cost burden | 1.04 (0.58–1.84) | 0.902 | 0.89 (0.48–1.68) | 0.727 |
| Multidose dispensing | 0.64 (0.33–1.24) | 0.187 | 0.75 (0.37–1.50) | 0.415 |
| ARMS-K score | 1.04 (0.96–1.12) | 0.359 | 1.05 (0.97–1.14) | 0.268 |
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Lee, S.; Oh, K.s. Medication Regimen Complexity and Patient-Reported Adverse Drug Events in Korean Community Pharmacies: A Cross-Sectional Study. Pharmacy 2026, 14, 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy14010011
Lee S, Oh Ks. Medication Regimen Complexity and Patient-Reported Adverse Drug Events in Korean Community Pharmacies: A Cross-Sectional Study. Pharmacy. 2026; 14(1):11. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy14010011
Chicago/Turabian StyleLee, Sunmin, and Kyung sun Oh. 2026. "Medication Regimen Complexity and Patient-Reported Adverse Drug Events in Korean Community Pharmacies: A Cross-Sectional Study" Pharmacy 14, no. 1: 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy14010011
APA StyleLee, S., & Oh, K. s. (2026). Medication Regimen Complexity and Patient-Reported Adverse Drug Events in Korean Community Pharmacies: A Cross-Sectional Study. Pharmacy, 14(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy14010011

