Medication Adherence Interventions Improve Heart Failure Mortality and Readmission Rates: Systematic Review and...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Pharmacology
• Public Health

Background:

• Poor medication adherence is prevalent in heart failure (HF) patients.
• Non-adherence increases HF exacerbations, functional decline, hospital admissions, and mortality.
• The impact of interventions on HF medication adherence, readmissions, and mortality remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and meta-analyze the effects of interventions aimed at improving medication adherence in HF patients.
• To assess the impact of these interventions on mortality and hospital readmission rates.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive search identified 57 eligible intervention studies.
• Random-effects model meta-analysis was used to calculate combined effect sizes for mortality and readmission.
• Moderator analyses examined potential biases from study design, sample, and intervention characteristics.

Main Results:

• Medication adherence interventions significantly reduced mortality risk (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.81, 0.99).
• Interventions also decreased the odds of hospital readmission (OR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.71, 0.89).
• Low heterogeneity and lack of detected bias from moderator analyses indicate robust findings.

Conclusions:

• Interventions to enhance medication adherence demonstrably reduce readmissions and mortality in HF patients.
• Integrating medication adherence strategies into routine HF care and self-care programs is essential.
• Prioritizing adherence interventions can improve long-term outcomes for heart failure management.