Doctor’s reminders boosts adherence to meds
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Even after a heart attack, people don’t always take the medicine prescribed for them - but a reminder from their doctor helps keep them on track, a study shows.
Follow-up patient mailings stressing the importance of taking beta-blocker pills after a heart attack increased adherence to these medications, the researchers report.
“The main finding was that 17 percent more patients were adherent with beta-blocker therapy following the intervention—this translates into one additional adherent patient for every 16 mailings,” lead author Dr. David H. Smith told Reuters Health.
“We were encouraged by the finding,” he added, “but it is a modest increase.”
The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology recommend that people who’ve suffered a heart attack be treated with beta-blockers, among other medications.
Research has shown that this can improve survival, but it is critical to take the recommended drugs consistently. However, several reports have documented low compliance with beta-blocker treatment after a heart attack, the researchers point out in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
To see if mailed reminders might help improve medication adherence, as previous research has suggested, Smith, from Kaiser Permanente Northwest in Portland, Oregon, and colleagues conducted a study with 836 heart attack patients who were given a prescription for beta-blockers.
On a random basis, they either received two follow-up mailings, 2 months apart, or just usual care.
The mailings emphasized the importance of life-long beta-blocker treatment, and of remembering to refill prescriptions. The information also reiterated that any side effects from the drugs can be managed.
The mailings increased the number of days that beta-blockers were used by 4.3 percent, which equates to roughly 1.3 extra days of use per month, and, as noted, the number of adherent patients by 17 percent.
Smith added that his team is now “exploring other methods of improving adherence, including telephone-based interactive voice recognition.” However, showing that these initiatives are worth the cost is “critical for the adoption of these interventions by clinicians and healthcare managers.”
SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, March 10, 2008.
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