Statin Adherence Is High and Is Associated With Reduced Economic Burden

Statin adherence among commercially insured patient populations is 61.9%, according to the results of a recent study. Patients who adhered to their statin prescriptions had lower health care service use and lower costs than their nonadherent counterparts.

To investigate the relationship between statin adherence and economic outcomes, the researchers assessed data from 2,757,288 individuals from the Truven Health MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters Research Databases from 2009 to 2015.

The researchers utilized generalized linear models with log link and either negative binomial distribution or gamma distribution. Patients’ relationships with medication adherence and health care use and expenditures were assessed over a 1-year period.

The researchers found that not only did 61.9% of participants adhere to their statin medications, but these individuals also had more outpatient and fewer inpatient visits, as well as lower outpatient, inpatient, and total expenditures. Patients who adhered were also found to have lower total health care costs per patient per month compared with those who did not adhere.

—Leigh Precopio

Reference:

Chinthammit C, Axon DR, Anderson S, et al. A retrospective cohort study evaluating the relationship between statin medication adherence and economic outcomes in commercial health plans. Published online September 21, 2020. doi:10.1016/j.jacl.2020.09.005