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Medication adherence tied to adverse events in type 2 diabetes
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Poor medication adherence in adults with type 2 diabetes is associated with risks for cardiovascular disease, all-cause mortality and hospitalizations, whereas good medication adherence reduces the risks, according to a study.
Kamlesh Khunti, MD, PhD, of Leicester Diabetes Centre at Leicester General Hospital and the Diabetes Research Centre at the University Leicester in Southmead, United Kingdom, and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis on eight observational studies to determine the association between medication adherence and risk for CVD, all-cause mortality and hospitalization in adults with type 2 diabetes.
Poor adherence in the studies ranged from 25% to 91% (mean, 37.8% ) .
One study reported on CV outcomes by adherence and revealed a decrease in CVD events with good medication adherence (P < .001). There were 10,396 incident CV events reported during 193,468 person-years of follow-up.
Three studies reported on medication adherence and all-cause mortality for a pooled RR of 0.72 (95% CI, 0.62-0.82) for good adherence compared with poor adherence.
Seven studies reported on all-cause hospitalization and medication adherence and revealed that good adherence was associated with benefits in reduced hospitalization rates (P < .001) compared with poor adherence.
“In conjunction with previous studies, these data should encourage health care professionals to routinely assess adherence in clinical practice and make efforts to improve it where it falls below 80%,” the researchers wrote. “In addition, our findings should serve to reinforce to patients the importance of taking medications as prescribed, in order to avoid premature death and preventable admissions to the hospital.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosures: Khunti reports receiving funds for research and honoraria for speaking at meetings and/or served on advisory boards for AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Company, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Servier and Sanofi. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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