A
Anonymous
Guest
I thought this article on statin compliance might be interesting.
Bill
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One-in-Four Patients on a Statin Seen to Be Non-Compliant
By Richard Woodman
LONDON (Reuters Health) Jan 13 - Many patients with high cholesterol don't take their statin
medication as prescribed, according to a British study published in the Pharmaceutical Journal.
Researchers in Liverpool studied the medical records of 12700 patients at a large general practice
in the city and found that 1010 persons were prescribed a statin -- mainly simvastatin or
pravastatin -- between 1991 and 2003.
Analysis showed that a quarter (215) of the 869 patients who met the study inclusion criteria were
non-compliant with therapy and that 654 patients were compliant.
Of the study population, 74 patients discontinued statin therapy altogether, usually within the
first two years. Other patients who took their therapy less than 80% of the time were also judged to
be non-compliant.
Compliance with therapy was associated with a statistically significant 56% relative reduction in
CHD mortality and a 63% relative risk reduction in non-cardiovascular mortality.
The risk of dying from a non-cardiovascular cause was nearly four times higher in the non-compliant
group. The reasons were unclear but Nicola Howell and colleagues at Liverpool John Moores University
said it was interesting to note that phase ll trials were investigating the benefits of statins as
anti-cancer agents.
The authors said there was a need for compliance-enhancing initiatives such as regular cholesterol
monitoring, which was shown in the study to be a statistically significant predictor of patient
compliance.
Pharm J 2004:272:23-26.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/467122_print
Bill
_____________________________________
One-in-Four Patients on a Statin Seen to Be Non-Compliant
By Richard Woodman
LONDON (Reuters Health) Jan 13 - Many patients with high cholesterol don't take their statin
medication as prescribed, according to a British study published in the Pharmaceutical Journal.
Researchers in Liverpool studied the medical records of 12700 patients at a large general practice
in the city and found that 1010 persons were prescribed a statin -- mainly simvastatin or
pravastatin -- between 1991 and 2003.
Analysis showed that a quarter (215) of the 869 patients who met the study inclusion criteria were
non-compliant with therapy and that 654 patients were compliant.
Of the study population, 74 patients discontinued statin therapy altogether, usually within the
first two years. Other patients who took their therapy less than 80% of the time were also judged to
be non-compliant.
Compliance with therapy was associated with a statistically significant 56% relative reduction in
CHD mortality and a 63% relative risk reduction in non-cardiovascular mortality.
The risk of dying from a non-cardiovascular cause was nearly four times higher in the non-compliant
group. The reasons were unclear but Nicola Howell and colleagues at Liverpool John Moores University
said it was interesting to note that phase ll trials were investigating the benefits of statins as
anti-cancer agents.
The authors said there was a need for compliance-enhancing initiatives such as regular cholesterol
monitoring, which was shown in the study to be a statistically significant predictor of patient
compliance.
Pharm J 2004:272:23-26.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/467122_print