Patient adherence
March 27, 2012
PATIENTS who undergo
pharmacogenetic testing are more
likely to take and remain on statins,
according to a new study.
The study examined medication
adherence of 1,294 patients that
were newly prescribed statins, 647
of which underwent a gene test to
measure KIF6 carrier status, with
the remaining 647 undergoing no
such testing.
The two groups were matched for
age, gender, prescription
distribution channel, and the
number of chronic medications
used.
Interestingly, researchers found
that the group who was tested and
then informed of their test results
had significantly higher overall
adherence to their statin treatment
over a six-month period (as
measured by the proportion of days
with medication on hand: 77% of
days covered vs 68%).
Tested patients were also almost
two times more likely (99%) to be
adherent as measured by patients
who had statin medication on hand
80% or more of the time.
In addition 83% of the tested
group stayed on their statin
therapy for the full six months.
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