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Assessment of Vascular Function in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease
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Assessment of Vascular Function in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease

Published on: June 16, 2014

Low medication adherence and hypertension control among adults with CKD: data from the REGARDS (Reasons for

Paul Muntner1, Suzanne E Judd, Marie Krousel-Wood

  • 1Department of Epidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. pmuntner@uab.edu

American Journal of Kidney Diseases : the Official Journal of the National Kidney Foundation
|May 18, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Medication adherence in chronic kidney disease (CKD) is similar to the general population. Poor adherence to blood pressure medication is linked to uncontrolled hypertension in CKD patients.

Area of Science:

  • Nephrology
  • Cardiology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Low adherence to antihypertensive medication is a significant obstacle to blood pressure control.
  • Limited data exist on medication adherence specifically in adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate medication adherence and its association with uncontrolled hypertension in adults with CKD.
  • To compare medication-taking behaviors between individuals with and without CKD.

Main Methods:

  • A cross-sectional study utilizing data from the REGARDS (Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke) Study.
  • Included 3,936 participants with CKD and 9,129 without CKD, all using antihypertensive medication.
  • CKD defined by albuminuria or estimated glomerular filtration rate. Medication adherence assessed via a 4-item scale; blood pressure measured twice.

Main Results:

  • Uncontrolled hypertension (BP ≥140/90 mm Hg) was prevalent in 36.2% of CKD participants and 26.5% without CKD.
  • Similar proportions of participants with and without CKD reported forgetting medications (27.7% vs. 27.9%) or being careless (4.4% vs. 4.2%).
  • In CKD patients, adherence issues (1 or more adherence questions) were associated with increased odds of uncontrolled hypertension (ORs 1.26-1.49 for BP ≥140/90 mm Hg).

Conclusions:

  • Individuals with CKD exhibit medication-taking behaviors comparable to those without CKD.
  • Poor medication adherence is a significant factor contributing to uncontrolled hypertension in the CKD population.
  • Pharmacy fill data were not available for this analysis.
Abstract

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