Medication adherence before an increase in antihypertensive therapy: a cohort study using pharmacy claims data.
BACKGROUND
Less than one third of patients with hypertension achieve optimal blood pressure control. Poor medication adherence has been identified as one contributor to uncontrolled blood pressure.


OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that patients who require an increase in their antihypertensive regimen have poorer adherence with medication compared with patients who remain on a stable regimen.


METHODS
Health plan enrollment and pharmacy claims data were used to perform a prospective cohort study and a nested case-control study in patients newly starting antihypertensive therapy. In the prospective cohort study, cumulative medication adherence (CMA, the percentage of days the patient had pills available, calculated as the total number of days of medication dispensed, excluding the final prescription, divided by the total number of days between the first and last antihypertensive prescriptions in the observation period) was compared between patients who required an increase in therapy and patients who remained on a stable antihypertensive regimen. In the nested case-control analysis, interval medication adherence (IMA, the ratio of the number of days of medication dispensed in a single prescription divided by the number of days until the next prescription is filled) during the prescription interval immediately before an increase in the antihypertensive regimen was compared with a similar interval in control patients without an increase matched by age, medication, number of days of medication dispensed, and months since initiation of therapy.


RESULTS
The study included data from 5089 patients (mean [SD] age, 47.8 [13.0] years; 50.0% women). Over a median (interquartile range) of 23 (9-49) months of initial antihypertensive treatment, 935 patients (18.4%) had an increase in regimen. After adjusting for age, duration of treatment, number of prescribing physicians, and specific medication, patients with a regimen increase had a 12.0% higher CMA compared with patients remaining on a stable regimen (P < 0.001). IMA for the period immediately before the increase was not significantly different in patients with an increase compared with matched controls (98.3% vs 101.0%, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
Among these insured patients newly starting antihypertensive therapy, patients who required an increase in therapy had similar or slightly better medication adherence compared with patients remaining on a stable regimen. Poor adherence was not predictive of intensification of the antihypertensive regimen.
Grant
Richard W
RW
General Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, USA. rgrant@partners.org
Singer
Daniel E
DE
Meigs
James B
JB
D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001262:Atenolol / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006852:Hydrochlorothiazide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007345:Insurance Claim Review / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007356:Insurance, Pharmaceutical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017706:Lisinopril / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D006852:Hydrochlorothiazide; D001262:Atenolol; D017706:Lisinopril