Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Mar 6:12:341-348.
doi: 10.2147/PPA.S153766. eCollection 2018.

The importance of cholesterol medication adherence: the need for behavioral change intervention programs

Hayden B Bosworth  1   2   3   4   5 , Barbara Ngouyombo  6 , Jan Liska  7 , Leah L Zullig  1   2 , Caroline Atlani  8 , Anne C Beal  7
Affiliations

The importance of cholesterol medication adherence: the need for behavioral change intervention programs

Hayden B Bosworth et al. Patient Prefer Adherence. .

Abstract

Lipid-lowering medications have been shown to be efficacious, but adherence is suboptimal. This is a narrative, perspective review of recently published literature in the field of medication adherence research for lipid-lowering medications. We provide an overview of the impact of suboptimal adherence and use a World Health Organization framework (patient, condition, therapy, socioeconomic, and health system-related systems) to discuss factors that influence hyperlipidemia treatment adherence. Further, the review involves an evaluation of intervention strategies to increase hyperlipidemia treatment adherence with a special focus on mHealth interventions, patient reminders on packaging labels, nurse- and pharmacist-led interventions, and health teams. It also highlights opportunities for pharmaceutical companies to support and scale such behavioral interventions. Medication adherence remains a challenge for the long-term management of chronic conditions, especially those involving asymptomatic disease such as hyperlipidemia. To engage patients and enhance motivation over time, hyperlipidemia interventions must be targeted to individual patients' needs, with sequencing and frequency of contact tailored to the various stages of behavioral change.

Keywords: behavioral medicine; cardiovascular disease; compliance; health psychology; lifestyle.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure Ms Ngouyombo, Mr Liska, Drs Atlani and Beal are employees of Sanofi. Dr Bosworth’s research is funded by NIH, VA, Johnson & Johnson, and Pharma foundation. He reports receiving consulting fees from Sanofi, Otsuku, Genentech, and Boehringer Ingelheim. Dr Bosworth was supported by research career scientist award from the VA Health Service Research and Development (VA HSR&D 08-027). Dr Zullig was supported by HSRD CDA award (CDA 13-025). The other authors report no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. DiMatteo MR, Giordani PJ, Lepper HS, Croghan TW. Patient adherence and medical treatment outcomes: a meta-analysis. Med Care. 2002;40(9):794–811. - PubMed
    1. Vinogradova Y, Coupland C, Brindle P, Hippisley-Cox J. Discontinuation and restarting in patients on statin treatment: prospective open cohort study using a primary care database. BMJ. 2016;353:i3305. - PMC - PubMed
    1. ncqa.org [homepage on the Internet] HEDIS 2016 Final NDC Lists. National Committee for Quality Assurance; [Accessed January 26, 2018]. Available from: https://www.ncqa.org/hedis-quality-measurement/hedis-measures/hedis-2016....
    1. Vrijens B, De Geest S, Hughes DA, et al. A new taxonomy for describing and defining adherence to medications. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2012;73(5):691–705. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Huser MA, Evans TS, Berger V. Medication adherence trends with statins. Adv Ther. 2005;22(2):163–171. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources