The COVID-19 Pandemic Did Not Negatively Impact Adherence to Cardiovascular Medications Among 548,601 Chronically Treated Patients in Alberta

Abstract

Background

Studies have suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted patient adherence with chronic medications. We explored whether adherence patterns changed in patients chronically treated with cardiovascular drugs after onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

In this retrospective cohort study we examined drug dispensation data for all adult Albertans who were chronic users of at least 1 cardiovascular drug class between 2017 and 2023. We calculated each patient’s proportion of days covered (PDC) for each drug class in the prepandemic phase (March 15, 2018 to March 14, 2020) and the pandemic phase (March 15, 2020 to March 14, 2022), and used generalized estimating equation logistic regression to estimate the effect of time period on achievement of good adherence (PDC >0.8) after adjusting for age, sex, socioeconomic status, and comorbidities.

Results

Of 548,601 chronic users of at least 1 cardiovascular drug class between March 15, 2018 and March 14, 2022, 47.2% were women, the mean age was 62.3 years, and 55.4% had Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) scores of 0. The most frequently dispensed cardiovascular drugs were angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers (67.6%) and statins (53.8%); the most frequent diagnoses were hypertension (77.2%), diabetes mellitus (30.6%), and ischemic heart disease (19.6%). Chronic users of cardiovascular drugs were more likely to have PDC >0.8 during the pandemic than in the prepandemic period: 75.4% vs 72.8%, with adjusted odds ratios ranging from 1.05 (95% confidence interval 1.00-1.11) for mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists to 1.16 (95% confidence interval 1.15-1.17) for statins.

Conclusions

Chronic users of cardiovascular drugs exhibited better adherence during the COVID-19 pandemic than before the pandemic.