What Matters More — Intensity or Adherence to Lipid-Lowering Therapy?

A combined measure of treatment intensity and adherence had a graded relationship with cardiovascular outcomes in an observational study.

Adherence and intensity of lipid-lowering treatment have each been associated with improved cardiovascular outcomes. Investigators in the U.K. developed a combined metric of lipid-lowering intensity (percentage of LDL reduction) and adherence (proportion of days covered) and applied the metric to 29,797 patients in three disease cohorts: cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes, or advanced chronic kidney disease.

All patients were newly treated with ≥2 prescriptions for statins, ezetimibe, or both and were followed for a mean of 3 years. In the CVD group, high-intensity therapy was associated with greater adherence than low-intensity therapy. Greater adherence and higher treatment intensity were independently associated with lower risk…

Reviewing Author

Fatima Rodriguez, MD, MPH

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardNovoNordisk; HealthPals; Novartis; Amgen

EquityHealthPals; Carta

Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; American Heart Association–Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Editorial BoardsCardiology and Therapy