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Prevalence and Correlates of Low Medication Adherence in Apparent Treatment-Resistant Hypertension
The Journal of Clinical Hypertension, 08/16/2012
Clinical Article
Irvin MR et al. - In the current study, a small percentage of participants with apparent treatment-resistant hypertension (aTRH) had low adherence.
Methods- The authors assessed medication adherence and aTRH among 4026 participants taking ≥3 classes of antihypertensive medication in the population-based Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) trial using the 4-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS).
- Low adherence was defined as an MMAS score ≥2.
- Overall, 66% of participants taking ≥3 classes of antihypertensive medication had aTRH.
- Perfect adherence on the MMAS was reported by 67.8% and 70.9% of participants with and without aTRH, respectively.
- Low adherence was present among 8.1% of participants with aTRH and 5.0% of those without aTRH (P<.001).
- Among those with aTRH, female sex, residence outside the US stroke belt or stroke buckle, physical inactivity, elevated depressive symptoms, and a history of coronary heart disease were associated with low adherence.
