Only one in three patients taking prescribed medication

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Within six months of their prescription, only one in three patients is taking drugs to lower blood pressure or cholesterol.
Research has shown that lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, using medication, can reduce the risk of heart disease. A study from ValueMedics Research, Arlington, Virginia, now looks into how well patients adhere to their medication schedules.

They followed a total of 8,406 patients for an average of 12.9 months. The percentage of patients taking both blood pressure-lowering and cholesterol-lowering drugs went down over time. At three months, 44.7 per cent maintained their regime, at six months 35.9 per cent and 35.8 per cent at 12 months.

The strongest predictor of adherence was the number of other medications the patient was taking in the year before treatment was initiated. As the number of previous medications decreased, so the likelihood of adherence to blood pressure and cholesterol medications increased. It also made a difference whether the two medications were prescribed on the same day or not. If they were, the patient was more likely to adhere. The message seems to be to keep it simple - minimize the number of drugs a patient has to take and they are more likely to stick to their regime.

Source
Archives of Internal Medicine 23rd May 2005 Volume 165 pages 1147-1152