Association of Medication Adherence With Health Outcomes in the ISCHEMIATrial. Journal of the American College of Cardiology Garcia, R. A., Spertus, J. A., Benton, M. C., Jones, P. G., Mark, D. B., Newman, J. D., Bangalore, S., Boden, W. E., Stone, G. W., Reynolds, H. R., Hochman, J. S., Maron, D. J., ISCHEMIA Research Group 2022; 80 (8): 755-765

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The ISCHEMIA (International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness With Medical and Invasive Approaches) trial randomized participants with chronic coronary disease (CCD) to guideline-directed medical therapy with or without angiography and revascularization. The study examined the association of nonadherence with health status outcomes.OBJECTIVES: The study sought to compare 12-month health status outcomes of adherent and nonadherent participants with CCD with an a priori hypothesis that nonadherent patients would have better health status if randomized to invasive management.METHODS: Self-reported medication-taking behavior was assessed at randomization with a modified 4-item Morisky-Green-Levine Adherence Scale, and participants were classified as adherent or nonadherent. Twelve-month health status was assessed with the 7-item Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ-7) summary score (SS), which ranges from 0 to 100 (higher score=better). The association of adherence with outcomes was evaluated using Bayesian proportional odds models, including an interaction by study arm (conservative vs invasive).RESULTS: Among 4,480 randomized participants, 1,245 (27.8%) were nonadherent at baseline. Nonadherent participants had worse baseline SAQ-7 SS in both conservative (72.9 ± 19.3 vs 75.6 ± 18.4) and invasive (71.0 ± 19.8 vs 74.2 ± 18.7) arms. In adjusted analyses, adherence was associated with higher 12-month SAQ-7 SS in both treatment groups (mean difference in SAQ-7 SS with conservative treatment=1.6 [95% credible interval: 0.3-2.9] vs with invasive management=1.9 [95% credible interval: 0.8-3.1]), with no interaction by treatment.CONCLUSIONS: More than 1 in 4 participants reported medication nonadherence, which was associated with worse health status in both conservative and invasive treatment strategies at baseline and 12months. Strategies to improve medication adherence are needed to improve health status outcomes in CCD, regardless of treatment strategy. (International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness With Medical and Invasive Approaches [ISCHEMIA]; NCT01471522).

View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jacc.2022.05.045

View details for PubMedID 35981820