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. 2020 May 12;17(10):3358.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17103358.

Initiation and Single Dispensing in Cardiovascular and Insulin Medications: Prevalence and Explanatory Factors

Carles Vilaplana-Carnerero  1   2 , Ignacio Aznar-Lou  1   3 , María Teresa Peñarrubia-María  3   4   5 , Antoni Serrano-Blanco  3   6 , Rita Fernández-Vergel  4   5 , Dolors Petitbò-Antúnez  5 , Montserrat Gil-Girbau  1   2   7 , Marian March-Pujol  2   3 , Juan Manuel Mendive  4   5   7 , Alba Sánchez-Viñas  1 , Cristina Carbonell-Duacastella  1   3 , Maria Rubio-Valera  3   6
Affiliations

Initiation and Single Dispensing in Cardiovascular and Insulin Medications: Prevalence and Explanatory Factors

Carles Vilaplana-Carnerero et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Adherence problems have negative effects on health, but there is little information on the magnitude of non-initiation and single dispensing.

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of non-initiation and single dispensation and identify associated predictive factors for the main treatments prescribed in Primary Care (PC) for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes.

Methods: Cohort study with real-world data. Patients who received a first prescription (2013-2014) for insulins, platelet aggregation inhibitors, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) or statins in Catalan PC were included. The prevalence of non-initiation and single dispensation was calculated. Factors that explained these behaviours were explored.

Results: At three months, between 5.7% (ACEI) and 9.1% (antiplatelets) of patients did not initiate their treatment and between 10.6% (statins) and 18.4% (ACEI) filled a single prescription. Body mass index, previous CVD, place of origin and having a substitute prescriber, among others, influenced the risk of non-initiation and single dispensation.

Conclusions: The prevalence of non-initiation and single dispensation of CVD medications and insulin prescribed in PC in is high. Patient and health-system factors, such as place of origin and type of prescriber, should be taken into consideration when prescribing new medications for CVD and diabetes.

Keywords: adherence; cardiovascular diseases; insulin; medication initiation; primary care; real-world data.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Factors that increase/decrease the probability of non-initiation after 3 months (▲/▼) and 6 months (↑/↓) and of single dispensing within a 3-month period (△/▽).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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