Abstract
Aims: Little is known about usual care by physicians and
pharmacy teams to support adherence to statins and whether the extent of
this care is associated with adherence to statins. Objective of the
study was to examine the relationship between the extent of adherence
supporting activities of HCPs and patients’ adherence to statins.
Methods: Cross-sectional study in 48 pharmacies and affiliated
physicians’ practices, between September 3, 2014 and March 20, 2015.
Patients visiting the pharmacy with a statin prescription from
participating prescribers were invited to participate. Usual care to
support adherence was assessed among HCPs with the Quality of Standard
Care questionnaire about usual care activities to support adherence.
Adherence to statins was assessed among patients with the MARS-5
questionnaire. The association between the extent of HCPs’ adherence
supporting activities and patients’ adherence was examined by means of
multilevel regression analysis.
Results: 1,504 patients and 692 HCPs (209 physicians, 118
pharmacists and 365 pharmacy technicians) participated. No association
was found between the extent of physicians’ adherence supporting
activities and patients’ adherence to statins. The extent of adherence
supporting activities by pharmacy teams in usual care was negatively
associated with patients’ adherence to statins (B coefficient -0.057
(95%CI: 0.112-0.002).
Conclusions: This study suggests that there is no positive
relationship between the extent of HCPs’ adherence supporting activities
in usual care and patients’ adherence to statins. Other methods than
questionnaires (e.g. electronic monitors (to assess adherence) and
observations (to assess usual care) should be applied to confirm the
results of this study.