title: Randomized Trial of a Pharmacist-Delivered Intervention for Improving Lipid-Lowering Medication Adherence among Patients with Coronary Heart Disease.
abstract: A randomized trial of a pharmacist-delivered intervention (PI) versus usual care (UC) was conducted; 689 subjects with known coronary heart disease were recruited from cardiac catheterization laboratories. Participants in the PI condition received 5 pharmacist-delivered telephone counseling calls post-hospital discharge. At one year, 65% in the PI condition and 60% in the UC condition achieved an LDL-C level <100 mg/dL (P = .29); mean statin adherence was 0.88 in the PI, and 0.90 in the UC (P = .51). The highest percentage of those who reached the LDL-C goal were participants who used statins as opposed to those who did not use statins (67% versus 58%, P = .05). However, only 53% and 56% of the patients in the UC and PI conditions, respectively, were using statins. We conclude that a pharmacist-delivered intervention aimed only at improving patient adherence is unlikely to positively affect outcomes. Efforts must be oriented towards influencing physicians to increase statin prescription rates.
authors.affiliation: Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 55 Lake Avenue North, Worcester, MA 01655, USA.
authors.forename: Yunsheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Ira S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Ockene
authors.forename: Milagros C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Rosal
authors.forename: Philip A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Merriam
authors.forename: Judith K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Ockene
authors.forename: Pritesh J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Gandhi