Adherence to concomitant diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia treatments among older patients

Diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia have been identified as common modifiable risk factors of cardiovascular disease, frequently occurring together, especially among older people. Medication adherence to concomitant triple therapy is of vital importance among this population.

The objective of the current study was to examine adherence to concurrent oral antidiabetics, renin-angiotensin system antagonists, and statins (triple therapy) among older patients and further evaluate the predictors associated with adherence to concurrent triple therapy among older patients.

Patients on concurrent triple therapy were identified using a Texas Medicare Advantage dataset. Patients had to have an overlap of 30 days of triple therapy and a second prescription of each component of triple therapy within the identification period. Medication adherence was measured using Proportion of Days Covered during the 1-year follow-up period to determine different adherence groups. A multinomial logistic regression was further conducted to determine various demographic and clinical factors associated with each adherence group.

The final patient cohort comprised 7847 patients. Of these, 68.05% were adherent to triple therapy, 21.43% were adherent to double therapy, and 10.51% were adherent to monotherapy or none. Compared with the triple therapy adherent group, females had a higher likelihood of being in the triple therapy nonadherent groups, while a refill of 90 days or more and prevalent use of triple therapy was associated with a lower likelihood of being in the triple therapy nonadherent groups. Finally, predictors associated with the adherent to monotherapy or none group included older age and a higher number of total other medications.

Adherence to triple therapy among older patients was 68.05%, and several demographic and clinical factors were associated with the different adherence groups.