Dataset Information

Quantifying Social Reinforcement Among Family Members on Adherence to Medications for Chronic Conditions: a US-Based Retrospective Cohort Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

More than 50% of patients are non-adherent to medications, often without an easily identifiable reason to clinicians. No study has quantified the extent to which health behaviors like medication-taking are correlated within families using national or routinely collected data for a range of conditions.

Objective

To examine how an individual's health behaviors are influenced by those of their family members, particularly in adherence to medications for chronic conditions.

Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Patients

Using claims from a large nationwide insurer, we identified patients initiating medications for one of five chronic conditions with a family member who also recently filled one of these medications.

Main measures

The primary exposure was whether family members were fully adherent (defined as a proportion of days covered ??80%) before the patient's date of initiation. The outcome of interest was whether patients were fully adherent in the 12 months after initiation. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were also measured before initiation. We used multivariable modified Poisson regression to examine the association between prior family adherence and subsequent patient adherence.

Key results

Among 254,144 patients, rates of full adherence among patients whose family members were and were not fully adherent were 37.3% and 26.9%, respectively (adjusted relative risk [aRR] 1.29, 95%CI 1.28-1.31). The association was stronger when both used cardiometabolic medications (aRR 1.35, 95%CI 1.32-1.37). Similarly, patients were also 38% more likely to be adherent if they and their family members used a medication for the same condition (aRR 1.38, 95%CI 1.35-1.40).

Conclusions

Adherence among family members appeared to be highly correlated, suggesting positive reinforcement by family or the sharing of unmeasured behaviors or characteristics associated with better adherence. Regardless, information about prior adherence among family members from routinely collected data could potentially inform adherence prediction or intervention efforts.

SUBMITTER: Lauffenburger JC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6544705 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Quantifying Social Reinforcement Among Family Members on Adherence to Medications for Chronic Conditions: a US-Based Retrospective Cohort Study.

Lauffenburger Julie C JC Khan Nazleen F NF Brill Gregory G Choudhry Niteesh K NK

Journal of general internal medicine 20181107 6

<h4>Background</h4>More than 50% of patients are non-adherent to medications, often without an easily identifiable reason to clinicians. No study has quantified the extent to which health behaviors like medication-taking are correlated within families using national or routinely collected data for a range of conditions.<h4>Objective</h4>To examine how an individual's health behaviors are influenced by those of their family members, particularly in adherence to medications for chronic conditions. ...[more]

PMID: 30406566

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Project description:BackgroundThe majority of people with hypertension require more than one medication to achieve blood pressure control. Many patients are prescribed multipill antihypertensive regimens rather than single-pill fixed-dose combination (FDC) treatment. Although FDC use may improve medication adherence, the impact on patient outcomes is unclear. We compared clinical outcomes and medication adherence with FDC therapy versus multipill combination therapy in a real-world setting using linked clinical and administrative databases.Methods and findingsWe conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study of 13,350 individuals 66 years and older in Ontario, Canada with up to 5 years of follow-up. We included individuals who were newly initiated on one angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) or angiotensin II-receptor blocker (ARB) plus one thiazide diuretic. High-dimensional propensity score matching was used to compare individuals receiving FDC versus multipill therapy. The primary outcome was a composite of death or hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure, or stroke. We conducted 2 analyses to examine the association between adherence and patient outcomes. First, we performed an on-treatment analysis to determine whether outcomes differed between groups while patients were on treatment, censoring patients when they first discontinued treatment, defined as not receiving medications within 150% of the previous days' supply. Second, we conducted an intention-to-treat analysis that followed individuals allowing for breaks in treatment to quantify the difference in drug adherence between groups and assess its impact on clinical outcomes. As expected, there was no significant difference in the primary outcome between groups in the on-treatment analysis (HR 1.06, 95% CI 0.86-1.31, P = 0.60). In the intention-to-treat analysis, the proportion of total follow-up days covered with medications was significantly greater in the FDC group (70%; IQR 19-98) than in the multipill group (42%, IQR 11-91, P < 0.01), and the primary outcome was less frequent in FDC recipients (3.4 versus 3.9 events per 100 person-years; HR 0.89, 95% CI 0.81-0.97, P < 0.01). The main limitations of this study were the lack of data regarding cause of death and blood pressure measurements and the possibility of residual confounding.ConclusionsAmong older adults initiating combination antihypertensive treatment, FDC therapy was associated with a significantly lower risk of composite clinical outcomes, which may be related to better medication adherence.

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Project description:Randomized trials of anti-hypertensive treatment demonstrating reduced risk of cardiovascular events in older adults included participants with less comorbidity than clinical populations. Whether these results generalize to all older adults, most of whom have multiple chronic conditions, is uncertain.To determine the association between anti-hypertensive medications and CV events and mortality in a nationally representative population of older adults.Competing risk analysis with propensity score adjustment and matching in the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey cohort over three-year follow-up through 2010.4,961 community-living participants with hypertension.Anti-hypertensive medication intensity, based on standardized daily dose for each anti-hypertensive medication class participants used.Cardiovascular events (myocardial infarction, unstable angina, cardiac revascularization, stroke, and hospitalizations for heart failure) and mortality.Of 4,961 participants, 14.1% received no anti-hypertensives; 54.6% received moderate, and 31.3% received high, anti-hypertensive intensity. During follow-up, 1,247 participants (25.1%) experienced cardiovascular events; 837 participants (16.9%) died. Of deaths, 430 (51.4%) occurred in participants who experienced cardiovascular events during follow-up. In the propensity score adjusted cohort, after adjusting for propensity score and other covariates, neither moderate (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.08 [95% CI, 0.89-1.32]) nor high (1.16 [0.94-1.43]) anti-hypertensive intensity was associated with experiencing cardiovascular events. The hazard ratio for death among all participants was 0.79 [0.65-0.97] in the moderate, and 0.72 [0.58-0.91] in the high intensity groups compared with those receiving no anti-hypertensives. Among participants who experienced cardiovascular events, the hazard ratio for death was 0.65 [0.48-0.87] and 0.58 [0.42-0.80] in the moderate and high intensity groups, respectively. Results were similar in the propensity score-matched subcohort.In this nationally representative cohort of older adults, anti-hypertensive treatment was associated with reduced mortality but not cardiovascular events. Whether RCT results generalize to older adults with multiple chronic conditions remains uncertain.

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Dataset Information

Quantifying Social Reinforcement Among Family Members on Adherence to Medications for Chronic Conditions: a US-Based Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background

Objective

Design

Patients

Main measures

Key results

Conclusions

Publications

Quantifying Social Reinforcement Among Family Members on Adherence to Medications for Chronic Conditions: a US-Based Retrospective Cohort Study.

Similar Datasets

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