You are seeing this message because your Web browser does not support basic Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing and what you can do to make your experience on this site better.


ABOUT ARCHIVES
Advanced Search

Welcome   | My Account | E-mail Alerts | Access Rights | Sign In


  Vol. 164 No. 7, April 12, 2004 TABLE OF CONTENTS
  Archives
  •  Online Features
  Original Investigation
 This Article
 •Full text
 •PDF
 •Send to a friend
 • Save in My Folder
 •Save to citation manager
 •Permissions
 Citing Articles
 •Citation map
 •Citing articles on HighWire
 •Citing articles on ISI (68)
 •Contact me when this article is cited
 Related Content
 •Similar articles in this journal
 Topic Collections
 •Hypertension
 •Randomized Controlled Trial
 •Treatment Adherence
 •Adherence
 •Alert me on articles by topic

How Can We Improve Adherence to Blood Pressure–Lowering Medication in Ambulatory Care?

Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Knut Schroeder, MD, MSc, MRCGP, MRCP; Tom Fahey, MD, MSc, MFPHM, MRCGP; Shah Ebrahim, DM, MSc, FRCP, FFPHM

Arch Intern Med. 2004;164:722-732.

Background  Lack of adherence to blood pressure–lowering medication is a major reason for poor control of hypertension worldwide. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of interventions to increase adherence to blood pressure–lowering medication.

Methods  We performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials and searched for all-language publications in the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL in April 2002.

Results  We included 38 studies testing 58 different interventions and containing data on 15 519 patients. The studies were conducted in 9 countries between 1975 and 2000. The duration of follow-up ranged from 2 to 60 months. Because of heterogeneity between studies in terms of interventions and the methods used to measure adherence, we did not pool the results. Simplifying dosing regimens increased adherence in 7 of 9 studies, with a relative increase in adherence of 8% to 19.6%. Motivational strategies were partly successful in 10 of 24 studies with generally small increases in adherence up to a maximum of 23%. Complex interventions comparing more than 1 technique increased adherence in 8 of 18 studies, ranging from 5% to a maximum of 41%. Patient education alone seemed largely unsuccessful.

Conclusions  Reducing the number of daily doses appears to be effective in increasing adherence to blood pressure–lowering medication and should be tried as a first-line strategy, although there is so far less evidence of an effect on blood pressure reduction. Some motivational strategies and complex interventions appear promising, but we need more evidence on their effect through carefully designed randomized controlled trials.


From the Division of Primary Health Care (Dr Schroeder) and Department of Social Medicine (Dr Ebrahim), University of Bristol, Bristol, England; and Tayside Centre for General Practice, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland (Dr Fahey). The authors have no relevant financial interest in this article.



THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Adherence to prescribed antihypertensive drug treatments: longitudinal study of electronically compiled dosing histories
Vrijens et al.
BMJ 2008;336:1114-1117.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Update to the AHA/ASA Recommendations for the Prevention of Stroke in Patients With Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack
Adams et al.
Stroke 2008;39:1647-1652.
FULL TEXT  

Switching to Once-Daily Evidence-Based -Blockers in Patients With Systolic Heart Failure or Left Ventricular Dysfunction After Myocardial Infarction
Albert
Crit Care Nurse 2007;27:62-72.
FULL TEXT  

Predicting adherence to immunosuppressant therapy: a prospective analysis of the theory of planned behaviour
Chisholm et al.
Nephrol Dial Transplant 2007;22:2339-2348.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Effect of Monitoring Bone Turnover Markers on Persistence with Risedronate Treatment of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis
Delmas et al.
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2007;92:1296-1304.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Treatment and control of blood pressure in patients with diabetes mellitus
Choe et al.
Am J Health Syst Pharm 2007;64:97-103.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Patient perspectives on multiple medications versus combined pills: a qualitative study
Williams et al.
QJM 2005;98:885-893.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Complexity and Cost of Drug Regimens of Older Patients Hospitalized With Heart Failure in the United States, 1998-2001
Masoudi et al.
Arch Intern Med 2005;165:2069-2076.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Meta-Analysis: Chronic Disease Self-Management Programs for Older Adults
Chodosh et al.
ANN INTERN MED 2005;143:427-438.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Adherence to Medication
Osterberg and Blaschke
NEJM 2005;353:487-497.
FULL TEXT  

Nurse-led adherence support in hypertension: a randomized controlled trial
Schroeder et al.
Fam Pract 2005;22:144-151.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Monitoring in chronic disease: a rational approach
Glasziou et al.
BMJ 2005;330:644-648.
FULL TEXT  

Persistence with Antihypertensives Related to Formulation: The Case of Nifedipine
Breekveldt-Postma and Herings
The Annals of Pharmacotherapy 2005;39:237-242.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

JournalScan
Malik
Heart 2004;90:826-826.
FULL TEXT  





HOME | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | TOPIC COLLECTIONS | CME | SUBMIT | SUBSCRIBE | HELP
CONDITIONS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US | SITE MAP
 
© 2004 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.