By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Many people hate to take their medicine --- and thats become such a problem that it costs the US an estimated $290 billion and 125,000 deaths a year, according to HealthPrize Technologies.

Thats also a potential problem for Massachusetts, a hotbed for developing new medical treatments. Whats the point of commercializing a great new drug if many patients dont want to take it?

According to a new survey from Connecticut-based HealthPrize, a large segment of the population finds taking prescription drugs distasteful. In an effort to quantify the problem, HealthPrize commissioned the research firm Research Now to survey 1,021 US adults who take prescription drugs.

One finding: 47 percent of people surveyed indicated they would rather take out the trash than take their prescribed medications. Among the reasons cited for such a response is that taking pills reminds people that theyre getting old.

Taking medication is a daily reminder of your illness and your status as a patient so its a negative experience that people instinctively want to avoid, Dr. Katrina Firlik, cofounder and chief medical officer of HealthPrize, said in a statement. Psychologically, people tend to prefer actions that offer short-term benefits but most chronic medications provide no short-term benefits -- only short-term annoyances. So people may skip taking or stop refilling their medication altogether even if the long-term risks to their health are enormous. Thats the reality of medication non-adherence that needs to be addressed.

HealthPrize looks to use game dynamics and behavioral economics to devise programs that encourage patients to take their medications as prescribed. For example, a patient who sticks to his or her drug regimen might be rewarded with an Amazon gift card. Drug companies hire HealthPrize to create such programs for their medications.

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Many people hate taking their medicine, new survey finds