Concurrent Medication Adherence in Hypertensive Patients With High-Risk Comorbidities
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Published on: April 12, 2021
Insights
Patients with hypertension and multiple comorbidities face challenges with medication adherence. The study found an inconsistent relationship between the number of high-risk comorbidities and adherence levels.
Area of Science:
- Clinical Pharmacy
- Health Services Research
- Chronic Disease Management
Background:
- Hypertension management often involves multiple medications due to high-risk comorbidities.
- Polypharmacy in patients with hypertension and comorbidities can increase the burden of medication adherence.
- The number of chronic conditions is a potential factor influencing medication adherence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare characteristics of patients with hypertension and high-risk comorbidities based on medication adherence.
- To investigate the association between the number of high-risk comorbidities and concurrent medication adherence.
- To identify patterns in medication adherence among patients requiring multiple medications.
Main Methods:
- Secondary data analysis of the 2018 Korea Health Panel Survey.
- Inclusion of 2230 patients with hypertension and at least one high-risk comorbidity on multiple medications.
- Classification into adherent, suboptimal, and nonadherent groups based on medication adherence for each condition, analyzed using multinomial logistic regression.
Main Results:
- The adherent, suboptimal, and nonadherent groups comprised 85%, 11%, and 4% of patients, respectively.
- More high-risk comorbidities were linked to the suboptimal adherence group (aOR=1.46) versus the adherent group.
- Fewer high-risk comorbidities were linked to the nonadherent group (aOR=0.52) versus the adherent group.
Conclusions:
- Three distinct concurrent medication adherence groups were identified.
- The association between the number of high-risk comorbidities and medication adherence groups was inconsistent.
- Further research is needed to understand complex adherence patterns in this patient population.
Background:
Hypertensive patients with high-risk comorbidities require medications for each condition, leading to greater burden. The number of chronic conditions can affect patients' concurrent medication adherence.
Objective:
We aimed to compare the characteristics of groups based on their concurrent medication adherence and investigate the association between the number of high-risk comorbidities and concurrent medication adherence for patients with hypertension and high-risk comorbidities.
Methods:
A secondary data analysis was performed with the 2018 Korea Health Panel Survey, including 2230 patients with hypertension and at least 1 high-risk comorbidity who were prescribed medications for at least 2 conditions. Using medication adherence for each condition, we identified 3 concurrent medication adherence groups: adherent, suboptimal, and nonadherent groups. Multinominal logistic regression was used to determine the association between the number of high-risk comorbidities and the concurrent medication adherence groups.
Results:
Adherent, suboptimal, and nonadherent groups included 85%, 11%, and 4% of the patients, respectively. Whereas having more high-risk comorbidities was associated with belonging to the suboptimal group compared with the adherent group (adjusted odds ratio, 1.46), having fewer high-risk comorbidities was associated with belonging to the nonadherent group compared with the adherent group (adjusted odds ratio, 0.52).
Conclusions:
We identified 3 groups based on their concurrent medication adherence. Our results indicated that the relationship of the number of high-risk comorbidities with the concurrent medication adherence group was inconsistent.
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