Impact of Polypharmacy on Adherence to Evidence-Based Medication in Patients who Underwent Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Title:Impact of Polypharmacy on Adherence to Evidence-Based Medication in Patients who Underwent Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Volume: 14 Issue: 4

Author(s): Shaban Mohammed, Abdulrahaman Arabi, Ayman El-Menyar, Sabir Abdulkarim, Amer AlJundi, Awad Alqahtani, Salah Arafa and Jassim Al Suwaidi

Affiliation:

Keywords: Polypharmacy, adherence, percutaneous coronary intervention, evidence-based medication.

Abstract: Background: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of polypharmacy on primary and secondary adherence to evidence-based medication (EBM) and to measure factors associated with non-adherence among patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis for patients who underwent PCI at a tertiary cardiac care hospital in Qatar. Patients who had polypharmacy (defined as ≥6 medications) were compared with those who had no polypharmacy at hospital discharge in terms of primary and secondary adherence to dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT), beta-blockers (BB), angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and statins.

Results: A total of 557 patients (mean age: 53±10 years; 85%; males) who underwent PCI were included. The majority of patients (84.6%) received ≥6 medications (polypharmacy group) while only 15.4% patients received ≥5 medications (nonpolypharmacy group). The two groups were comparable in term of gender, nationality, socioeconomic status and medical insurance. The non-polypharmacy patients had significantly higher adherence to first refill of DAPT compared with patients in the polypharmacy group (100 vs. 76.9%; p=0.001). Similarly, the non-polypharmacy patients were significantly more adherent to secondary preventive medications (BB, ACEI and statins) than the polypharmacy group.

Conclusion: In patients who underwent PCI, polypharmacy at discharge could play a negative role in the adherence to the first refill of EBM. Further studies should investigate other parameters that contribute to long term non-adherence.

Cite this article as:

Mohammed Shaban, Arabi Abdulrahaman, El-Menyar Ayman, Abdulkarim Sabir, AlJundi Amer, Alqahtani Awad, Arafa Salah and Al Suwaidi Jassim, Impact of Polypharmacy on Adherence to Evidence-Based Medication in Patients who Underwent Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, Current Vascular Pharmacology 2016; 14 (4) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1570161113666151030105805