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The association between adherence to cardiovascular medications and healthcare utilization
Tzahit Simon-Tuval1, Noa Triki2, Gabriel Chodick2,3
1Department of Health Systems Management, Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management and Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. simont@bgu.ac.il.
Insights
Medication adherence for cardiovascular disease (CVD) is low but linked to reduced long-term healthcare costs. Improving adherence could optimize health system resources.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Disease Research
- Health Economics
- Medication Adherence Studies
Background:
- Poor adherence to cardiovascular disease (CVD) medications is linked to negative health outcomes.
- The association between CVD medication adherence and healthcare utilization (HCU) requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if adherence to CVD medications is associated with a long-term reduction in healthcare utilization.
- To analyze the impact of medication adherence on healthcare expenditure over time.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cohort study of 1582 patients with CVD initiating medication in 2006.
- Adherence measured by proportion of days covered (PDC); patients categorized as non-adherent (<0.4), partially adherent (0.4–0.8), and fully adherent (≥0.8).
- Healthcare utilization (HCU) analyzed over 4 years using multivariable GEE models, adjusting for confounders.
Main Results:
- Fully adherent patients experienced a 10% annual decrease in HCU costs post-treatment initiation (RR=0.90, P<0.001), mainly from reduced hospitalization.
- Partially adherent and non-adherent patients showed no significant changes in annual HCU costs.
- No temporal association was found between adherence and HCU in the second model.
Conclusions:
- Adherence rates to CVD medications remain suboptimal.
- Adherence to CVD medications is associated with a significant long-term decrease in healthcare expenditure.
- Strategies to improve adherence are crucial for optimizing health system resource utilization.
Background:
Poor adherence to medications for cardiovascular disease (CVD) is associated with adverse health outcomes, but little is known about its association with healthcare utilization (HCU).
Objective:
To examine whether adherence is associated with a long-term decrease in HCU.
Methods:
This is a retrospective cohort study of 1582 patients with CVD who enrolled in Maccabi Healthcare Services in Israel, initiating CVD medication therapy in 2006. Adherence was assessed by the proportion of days covered (PDC) with medications. Patients were defined as: non-adherent (PDC <0.4), partially adherent (0.4 ≤ PDC < 0.8), and fully adherent (PDC ≥0.8). HCU was estimated for 4 years following treatment initiation. Multivariable GEE models were used to analyze predictors of HCU. Model I included total adherence during the entire follow-up period as well as the interaction between this measure and the follow-up year. Model II included previous and current year's adherence as well as previous year's HCU cost. Both models were adjusted for potential confounders including: patient's age, gender, socioeconomic status, ownership of voluntary supplementary health insurance, and comorbidities.
Results:
The median age of patients was 63 (69 % males). Fifty-four percent of patients (n = 860) were defined as adherent, 24 % as partially adherent and 22 % as non-adherent. Model I: the annual HCU costs of adherent patients decreased by 10 % following treatment initiation [rate ratio (RR) = 0.90, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.86-0.94, P < 0.001]. This decrease stemmed predominantly from reduction in hospitalization costs. No significant changes in annual costs following treatment initiation were observed among partially adherent (RR = 1.00, 95 % CI 0.90-1.10, P = 0.935) and non-adherent (RR = 0.98, 95 % CI 0.87-1.10, P = 0.681) patients. Model II: no temporal association was found between adherence and HCU.
Conclusions:
Adherence to CVD medications is relatively low. Adherence is associated with long-term decrease in healthcare expenditure. Exploring reasons for the high non-adherence and ways to improve adherence may optimize utilization of health systems' scarce resources.
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