Multiple Medication Adherence and Related Outcomes in Community-Dwelling Older People on Chronic Polypharmacy: A Retrospective Cohort Study on Administrative Claims Data

Medication adherence to inflammatory bowel disease medications in Aotearoa New Zealand and correlation with health outcomes: A nationwide database analysis

AIMS

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) management entails long-term medication therapy. Worse disease outcomes and reduced quality of life might arise from poor medication adherence (MA). This study is the first to investigate patients with IBD's adherence across Aotearoa New Zealand and its relationship with disease outcomes.

METHODS

Dispensing claims data (Pharmaceutical Collection) were used to calculate (3- and 5-year) adherence, using daily polypharmacy possession ratio. Using hospitalization data (National Minimum Dataset), the relationship between adherence and the numbers of hospitalizations and corticosteroid dispensings was investigated.

RESULTS

In total, 4654 patients (53% female; 55% Crohn's disease [CD], 45% ulcerative colitis [UC]; median age-at-first-dispensing, 43 years) and 3148 patients (54% female; 55% CD, 44% UC; median age-at-first-dispensing, 44 years) were in the 3- and 5-year cohorts, respectively. The 3- and 5-year cohorts had mean 4.6 and 4.2 IBD-related hospitalizations and 6.9 and 9.2 corticosteroid dispensings, respectively. Average adherence estimates were 77.4% (95% confidence interval: 76.9-78.0%) and 74.9% (95% confidence interval: 74.1-75.6%; 3 and 5 years), while 54% and 51% of patients, respectively, had good adherence (MA ≥ 80%). There was no correlation between adherence and the numbers of hospitalizations (Pearson's R = -.0007; P = .65 and R = -.04; P = .02 [3 and 5 years]) and corticosteroid dispensings (R = .08; P = <.0001 and R = .08; P = <.0001, respectively).

CONCLUSION

MA of Aotearoa New Zealand patients with IBD is moderately high but just over half of patients meet the adherent threshold. There was no correlation between adherence and hospitalizations or corticosteroid dispensings; hence, research into longitudinal adherence patterns and associated factors is needed.

Overall Medication Adherence as an Indicator for Health Outcomes Among Elderly Patients With Hypertension and Diabetes

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this research was to assess overall medication adherence as an indicator for emergency room (ER) visits, hospitalizations, and mortality among elderly patients.

METHODS

The study included individuals aged 75-90 years, diagnosed with diabetes or hypertension, who were treated with at least 1 antihypertensive, or antidiabetic medication in 2017. We determined personal adherence rates by calculating the mean adherence rates of the medications prescribed to each individual. We retrieved information on all ER visits and hospitalizations in internal medicine and surgical wards from 2017 to 2019 and mortality in 2019.

RESULTS

Of the 171,097 individuals included in the study, 60% were women. The mean age was 81.2 years. 93% had hypertension, 46% had diabetes, and 39% had both diabetes and hypertension. In 2017, 61,668 (36.0%) patients visited the ER, 44,910 (26.2%) were hospitalized in internal medicine wards, and 13,305 (7.8%) were hospitalized in surgical wards. Comparing the highest adherence quintile to the lowest, ORs were 0.69 (0.63, 0.76) for ER visits, 0.40 (0.36, 0.45) for hospitalization in internal medicine wards, and 0.61 (0.52, 0.72) for hospitalization in surgery wards. ORs were similar for the 3 consecutive years 2017, 2018, and 2019. The adjusted OR for all-cause mortality in 2019 comparing the highest adherence quintile to the lowest was 0.60 (0.54, 0.66).

CONCLUSIONS

Better medication adherence was associated with fewer ER visits and hospitalizations among elderly patients with diabetes and hypertension and lower mortality rates. Overall medication adherence is an indicator for health outcomes unrelated to the patient's underlying health status.

Evaluation of methods measuring medication adherence in patients with polypharmacy: a longitudinal and patient perspective

PURPOSE

To explore patients' willingness to have medication adherence measured using different methods and evaluate the feasibility and validity of their combination (i.e., pill counts, a medication diary and a questionnaire assessing adherence two months post-discharge).

METHODS

(1) A cross-sectional evaluation of the willingness of patients with polypharmacy to have their medication adherence measured post-discharge. (2) Medication adherence was monitored during two months using pill counts based on preserved medication packages and a diary in which patients registered their adherence-related problems. During a home visit, the Probabilistic Medication Adherence Scale (ProMAS) and a questionnaire on feasibility were administered.

RESULTS

A total of 144 participants completed the questionnaire at discharge. The majority was willing to communicate truthfully about their adherence (97%) and to share adherence-related information with healthcare providers (99%). More participants were willing to preserve medication packages (76%) than to complete a medication diary (67%) during two months. Most participants reported that preserving medication packages (91%), completing the diary (99%) and the ProMAS (99%) were no effort to them. According to the majority of participants (60%), pill counts most accurately reflected medication adherence, followed by the diary (39%) and ProMAS (1%). Medication adherence measured by pill counts correlated significantly with ProMAS scores, but not with the number of diary-reported problems. However, adherence measured by the medication diary and ProMAS correlated significantly.

CONCLUSION

Combining tools for measuring adherence seems feasible and can provide insight into the accordance of patients' actual medication use with their prescribed regimen, but also into problems contributing to non-adherence.

Adherence to pharmacological treatment in non-communicable chronic diseases in the Colombian population: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction. Non-communicable chronic diseases represent the leading cause of death worldwide, and their prevalence is increasing due to the epidemiological transition. Despite the advances in their management, control rates are deficient, attributed to multiple factors like adherence to pharmacological treatment, one of the most significant and least studied in the Colombian population. Objective. To calculate adherence to treatment in Colombian patients with arterial hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and dyslipidemia between 2005 and 2022. Materials and methods. We performed a systematic literature review and a meta-analysis of studies identified through the Medline and LILACS databases to quantitatively synthesize treatment adherence percentage. Results. Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria, and 5,658 patients were analyzed. The treatment adherence was 59%, with significant heterogeneity among the included studies (95% CI= 46- 71%; I2 = 98.8%, p< 0.001). Higher adherence rates were observed for diabetes mellitus (79%; 95% CI = 65- 90%) and dyslipidemia (70%; 95% CI = 66- 74%). Adherence to arterial hypertension treatment was 51% (95 %; CI = 31- 72%). Conclusions. This systematic review showed low adherence to recommendations regarding pharmacological management in non-communicable chronic diseases, which can have implications for long-term clinical outcomes and disease burden.

Identifying Predictors of Nursing Home Admission by Using Electronic Health Records and Administrative Data: Scoping Review

Background

Among older adults, nursing home admissions (NHAs) are considered a significant adverse outcome and have been extensively studied. Although the volume and significance of electronic data sources are expanding, it is unclear what predictors of NHA have been systematically identified in the literature via electronic health records (EHRs) and administrative data.

Objective

This study synthesizes findings of recent literature on identifying predictors of NHA that are collected from administrative data or EHRs.

Methods

The PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines were used for study selection. The PubMed and CINAHL databases were used to retrieve the studies. Articles published between January 1, 2012, and March 31, 2023, were included.

Results

A total of 34 papers were selected for final inclusion in this review. In addition to NHA, all-cause mortality, hospitalization, and rehospitalization were frequently used as outcome measures. The most frequently used models for predicting NHAs were Cox proportional hazards models (studies: n=12, 35%), logistic regression models (studies: n=9, 26%), and a combination of both (studies: n=6, 18%). Several predictors were used in the NHA prediction models, which were further categorized into sociodemographic, caregiver support, health status, health use, and social service use factors. Only 5 (15%) studies used a validated frailty measure in their NHA prediction models.

Conclusions

NHA prediction tools based on EHRs or administrative data may assist clinicians, patients, and policy makers in making informed decisions and allocating public health resources. More research is needed to assess the value of various predictors and data sources in predicting NHAs and validating NHA prediction models externally.

Exploring patient medication adherence and data mining methods in clinical big data: A contemporary review

BACKGROUND

Increasingly, patient medication adherence data are being consolidated from claims databases and electronic health records (EHRs). Such databases offer an indirect avenue to gauge medication adherence in our data-rich healthcare milieu. The surge in data accessibility, coupled with the pressing need for its conversion to actionable insights, has spotlighted data mining, with machine learning (ML) emerging as a pivotal technique. Nonadherence poses heightened health risks and escalates medical costs. This paper elucidates the synergistic interaction between medical database mining for medication adherence and the role of ML in fostering knowledge discovery.

METHODS

We conducted a comprehensive review of EHR applications in the realm of medication adherence, leveraging ML techniques. We expounded on the evolution and structure of medical databases pertinent to medication adherence and harnessed both supervised and unsupervised ML paradigms to delve into adherence and its ramifications.

RESULTS

Our study underscores the applications of medical databases and ML, encompassing both supervised and unsupervised learning, for medication adherence in clinical big data. Databases like SEER and NHANES, often underutilized due to their intricacies, have gained prominence. Employing ML to excavate patient medication logs from these databases facilitates adherence analysis. Such findings are pivotal for clinical decision-making, risk stratification, and scholarly pursuits, aiming to elevate healthcare quality.

CONCLUSION

Advanced data mining in the era of big data has revolutionized medication adherence research, thereby enhancing patient care. Emphasizing bespoke interventions and research could herald transformative shifts in therapeutic modalities.

A Critical View over the Newest Antidiabetic Molecules in Light of Efficacy-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The increase in life expectancy without a decrease in the years lived without disability leads to the rise of the population aged over 65 years prone to polypharmacy. The novel antidiabetic drugs can improve this global therapeutic and health problem in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). We aimed to establish the efficacy (A1c hemoglobin reduction) and safety of the newest antidiabetic drugs (considered so due to their novelty in medical practice use), specifically DPP-4i, SGLT-2i, GLP-1 Ra, and tirzepatide. The present meta-analysis followed the protocol registered at Prospero with the CRD42022330442 registration number. The reduction in HbA1c in the DPP4-i class for tenegliptin was 95% CI -0.54 [-1.1, 0.01], p = 0.06; in the SGLT2-iclass for ipragliflozin 95% CI -0.2 [-0.87, 0.47], p = 0.55; and for tofogliflozin 95% CI 3.13 [-12.02, 18.28], p = 0.69, while for tirzepatide it was 0.15, 95% CI [-0.50, 0.80] (p = 0.65). The guidelines for treatment in type 2 DM are provided from cardiovascular outcome trials that report mainly major adverse cardiovascular events and data about efficacy. The newest antidiabetic non-insulinic drugs are reported to be efficient in lowering HbA1c, but this effect depends between classes, molecules, or patients' age. The newest antidiabetic drugs are proven to be efficient molecules in terms of HbA1c decrease, weight reduction, and safety, but more studies are needed in order to characterize exactly their efficacy and safety profiles.

Competences of internal medicine specialists for the management of patients with multimorbidity. EFIM multimorbidity working group position paper

Patients with multimorbidity increasingly impact healthcare systems, both in primary care and in hospitals. This is particularly true in Internal Medicine. This population associates with higher mortality rates, polypharmacy, hospital readmissions, post-discharge syndrome, anxiety, depression, accelerated age-related functional decline, and development of geriatric syndromes, amongst others. Internists and Hospitalists, in one of their roles as Generalists, are increasingly asked to attend to these patients, both in their own Departments as well as in surgical areas. The management of polypathology and multimorbidity, however, is often complex, and requires specific clinical skills and corresponding experience. In addition, patients' needs, health-care environment, and routines have changed, so emerging and re-emerging specific competences and approaches are required to offer the best coordinated, continuous, and comprehensive integrated care to these populations, to achieve optimal health outcomes and satisfaction of patients, their relatives, and staff. This position paper proposes a set of emerging and re-emerging competences for internal medicine specialists, which are needed to optimally address multimorbidity now and in the future.

Appropriateness of the Prescription and Use of Medicines: An Old Concept but More Relevant than Ever

The availability of drugs to treat diseases, control symptoms, or prevent their onset is one of the most important resources for maintaining health [...].