Prevalence of non-adherence is widespread, and increases with the number of blood pressure drugs prescribed per patient.
Non-adherence to antihypertensive treatment is common in the United Kingdom and Czech Republic, according to a new study.
Researchers analysed urine samples from 1,400 patients to reveal whether they were taking their antihypertensive drugs as prescribed, and found that non-adherence for UK patients was 41.6% and 31.5% in the Czech Republic cohort.
They also found that non-adherence was linked to the number of hypertensive medicines prescribed. Non-adherence risk increased by 85% with each additional drug in the UK cohort and by 77% in Czech Republic patients (P <0.001).
Writing in the latest edition of the journal Hypertension (June 2017), they say: “Although non-adherence among those who were prescribed only one antihypertensive was minimal, the majority (79.3%) of UK patients prescribed ≥6 BP-lowering medications were non-adherent to antihypertensive treatment.”
(Reference: http://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/news-and-analysis/news/up-to-40-of-patients-not-taking-their-blood-pressure-tablets-as-prescribed/20202883.article)