Representativeness of the “Fiesole Misurata” study database for use in pharmaco-epidemiological investigations on adherence to antihypertensive medications

• Published in: Aging clinical and experimental research 2013-08, Vol.25 (4), p.433-445
• Main Authors: Lapi, Francesco, Lucenteforte, Ersilia, Moschini, Martina, Bonaiuti, Roberto, Di Pirro, Marina, Barchielli, Alessandro, Benemei, Silvia, Belladonna, Maddalena, Nesti, Nicola, Coppini, Raffaele, Taras, Margherita, Vannacci, Alfredo, Ungar, Andrea, Mugelli, Alessandro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antihypertensive Agents - administration & dosage; Cardiomyopathies - drug therapy; Cardiomyopathies - epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Databases, Factual; Datasets; Geriatrics/Gerontology; Heart Failure - drug therapy; Heart Failure - epidemiology; Hospitalization; Humans; Italy - epidemiology; Medication Adherence - statistics & numerical data; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original Article; Pharmacoepidemiology; Prevalence; Residence Characteristics; Stroke - drug therapy; Stroke - epidemiology
• ISSN: 1720-8319; 1594-0667; 1720-8319
• DOI: 10.1007/s40520-013-0060-7

Background and aims Poor adherence to medications is a major health concern especially among older subjects. To plan future studies to improve adherence, an epidemiological study, called “Fiesole Misurata”, was conducted. The aim of the present paper was to verify the representativeness of the database in evaluating the AntiHyperTensives (AHTs)-taking behaviour. Methods Demographic records of all subjects aged ≥65 years ( n  = 2,228) living in the community of Fiesole (Florence, Italy) was retrieved from the Registry Office of Fiesole Municipality. The corresponding healthcare records were obtained from administrative archives of the Local Health Authority (claim dataset). Moreover, a cohort of subjects aged ≥65 years ( n  = 385) living in the community was screened by means of a multidimensional geriatric evaluation (cross-sectional dataset). Results In claim dataset, biyearly prevalences of hospitalization for ischemic cardiomyopathy, heart failure, and stroke were 3.7, 3.0, and 3.2 %, respectively. In the cross-sectional dataset, prevalences were 11.2, 6.7, and 7.1 %, respectively. The most used drugs were angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (43.6 % in the claim dataset, 45.3 % in the cross-sectional dataset) and diuretics (35.6 % and 47.0 %, respectively). Among the incident users of AHTs, 63.5 % was highly adherent (≥80 %) over the first 6 months of follow-up, while 14.3 and 22.2 % were intermediate (40–79 %) and low (