Review: intensified patient care may improve adherence to lipid-lowering medication in primary or secondary prevention of CV disease
A Schedlbauer
Dr A Schedlbauer, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; angela.schedlbauer@nottingham.ac.uk
QUESTION
Are interventions for improving adherence to lipid-lowering medications (LLMs) effective for primary or secondary prevention of cardiovascular (CV) disease in ambulatory settings?
METHODS
Data sources:
Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and PsycINFO (searched in Nov 2005); reference lists; authors; and experts.
Study selection and assessment:
randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in any language that compared interventions to increase adherence to LLMs (eg, nicotinic acid or niacin, anion-exchange resins, statins) with no intervention or usual care in adults for primary or secondary prevention of CV disease in ambulatory care settings. Quality assessment of individual studies was based on avoidance of selection, performance, attrition, and detection biases according to criteria from the Cochrane Reviewers’ Handbook; studies were categorised …
