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5 articles discussing medication adherence
Nearly half of hypertensive patients are nonadherent to antihypertensive medication and nearly one-third of patients with various comorbidities were nonadherent to medications, according to a study published last year in Medicine.
“Nonadherence to medication is a growing concern and is associated with adverse outcomes. Maintaining medication adherence to multiple medications is a complex issue in patients with chronic disease, particularly CVDs,” Tadesse Melaku Abegaz, MSc, and colleagues wrote. “The influence of nonadherence to antihypertensive medications is the most important cause of uncontrolled BP. Consequently, because of nonadherence, most of the hypertensive patients do not achieve optimal BP control.”
Cardiology Today has compiled a list of articles discussing the importance of medication adherence and ways in which physicians and patients can work together to adhere to a medication regimen.
Reduced copayment boosts physician, patient adherence to antiplatelet therapy after MI
ORLANDO, Fla. — The use of vouchers to reduce out-of-pocket costs for brand-name and generic antiplatelet medications improved physician and patient adherence to guideline-directed treatment after MI, according to data from the ARTEMIS trial.
Improved adherence, however, did not translate to better clinical outcomes, Tracy Y. Wang, MD, MHS, MSc, FACC, FAHA, associate professor of medicine at Duke University Medical School, said during a presentation at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session.
High-intensity statin therapy less likely in women after MI
Women were less likely to fill a prescription for high-intensity statins after hospitalization for MI compared with men, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
“While the use of high-intensity statins increased in both sexes who filled any statin prescription following MI between 2007 and 2015, our study shows that women continue to be less likely than men to fill a prescription for high-intensity statins,” Sanne A.E. Peters, PhD, research fellow in epidemiology at The George Institute for Global Health at University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, told Cardiology Today. “The underutilization of high-intensity statins in women can be expected to result in a substantial additional number of preventable vascular events.”
Communication improves BP medication adherence in low-income patients
Low-income individuals with high BP were less likely to take their medication when their physician did not ask them about social issues or did not engage in collaborative communication, according to recent findings.
“Despite advances in treatments for cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, poorly controlled BP continues to be a significant public health problem in the United States,” Antoinette Schoenthaler, EdD, associate professor in the departments of population health and medicine at NYU School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote.
Telepharmacy intervention yields modest effect on medication adherence among patients with cardiometabolic diseases
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Implementation of a personalized telepharmacy intervention improved medication adherence but did not affect measures of disease control, including LDL, BP and HbA1c, among patients with chronic cardiometabolic diseases, according to data from the STIC2IT trial.
Inpatient setting ideal for improving hypertension regimen
ORLANDO, Fla. — Because BP levels can be more closely monitored in hospitals, they present an ideal setting for changing hypertension regimens when improvement is needed, according to a presentation at Hospital Medicine 2018.
“Hypertension is the No. 1 cardiac risk factor in the world,” Michael Tanner, MD, clinical associate professor at New York University School of Medicine, said during his presentation. “The leading causes of death on our planet are heart attacks at 8 million and strokes at 6 million. Over 1 billion people have high BP. Globally speaking, hypertension is becoming increasingly important.”