Comparing adherence and persistence across 6 chronic medication classes.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacoeconomics and Health Outcomes Research
• Medication Adherence and Persistence Studies
• Chronic Disease Management

Background:

• The National Quality Forum recognizes Proportion of Days Covered (PDC) as a key quality indicator for medication adherence.
• Understanding medication adherence and persistence is crucial for effective drug therapy management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare Proportion of Days Covered (PDC) and persistence among new users of six common chronic medication classes.
• To establish baseline data for initiatives aimed at improving drug therapy management quality.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of pharmacy claims data from over 64 million members across 100 health plans.
• Inclusion of new users of prostaglandin analogs, statins, bisphosphonates, oral antidiabetics, ARBs, and OAB medications, followed for 12 months.
• Logistic regression used to predict nonpersistence and adherence (PDC ≥ 80%), controlling for various patient and treatment factors.

Main Results:

• Persistence and adherence rates were uniformly suboptimal across the six drug classes.
• Oral antidiabetic users exhibited significantly lower risk of nonpersistence and higher adherence compared to prostaglandin analogs and OAB medications.
• Adherence to prostaglandin eye drops and OAB medications was notably lower than cardiovascular, oral antidiabetic, and osteoporosis therapies.

Conclusions:

• Significant variability exists in medication adherence and persistence across common chronic therapies.
• Findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to improve medication adherence, particularly for prostaglandin analogs and OAB medications.
• This study provides essential baseline data for developing quality improvement initiatives in drug therapy management.