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ABSTRACT: Objective
To evaluate the relation between adherence to drug therapy, including placebo, and mortality.Design
Meta-analysis of observational studies.Data sources
Electronic databases, contact with investigators, and textbooks and reviews on adherence. Review methods Predefined criteria were used to select studies reporting mortality among participants with good and poor adherence to drug therapy. Data were extracted for disease, drug therapy groups, methods for measurement of adherence rate, definition for good adherence, and mortality.Results
Data were available from 21 studies (46,847 participants), including eight studies with placebo arms (19,633 participants). Compared with poor adherence, good adherence was associated with lower mortality (odds ratio 0.56, 95% confidence interval 0.50 to 0.63). Good adherence to placebo was associated with lower mortality (0.56, 0.43 to 0.74), as was good adherence to beneficial drug therapy (0.55, 0.49 to 0.62). Good adherence to harmful drug therapy was associated with increased mortality (2.90, 1.04 to 8.11).Conclusion
Good adherence to drug therapy is associated with positive health outcomes. Moreover, the observed association between good adherence to placebo and mortality supports the existence of the "healthy adherer" effect, whereby adherence to drug therapy may be a surrogate marker for overall healthy behaviour.
SUBMITTER: Simpson SH
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1488752 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Simpson Scot H SH Eurich Dean T DT Majumdar Sumit R SR Padwal Rajdeep S RS Tsuyuki Ross T RT Varney Janice J Johnson Jeffrey A JA
BMJ (Clinical research ed.) 20060621 7557
<h4>Objective</h4>To evaluate the relation between adherence to drug therapy, including placebo, and mortality.<h4>Design</h4>Meta-analysis of observational studies.<h4>Data sources</h4>Electronic databases, contact with investigators, and textbooks and reviews on adherence. Review methods Predefined criteria were used to select studies reporting mortality among participants with good and poor adherence to drug therapy. Data were extracted for disease, drug therapy groups, methods for measuremen ...[more]