Medication Adherence of Statin Users after Acute Ischemic Stroke

Abstract

Although statins are established therapy for the secondary prevention of ischemic stroke, factors associated with adherence to statin treatment following ischemic stroke are not well known. To address this, we assessed the 6-month statin adherence using 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Of 991 patients, 65.6% were adherent to statin at 6-month after discharge. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that patients’ awareness of hyperlipidemia (OR 1.62; 95% CI 1.07–2.43), large artery stroke subtype (versus non-large artery stroke, OR 1.79; 95% CI 1.19–2.68), and alcohol drinking habits (OR 1.64; 95% CI 1.06–2.53) were positively associated, while high statin dose (versus low dose, OR 0.6; 95% CI 0.40–0.90) and higher daily number of medication pills (OR 0.93; 95% CI 0.88–0.97) were found to have a negative association with self-reported good adherence to statin medication after acute ischemic stroke. However, stroke severity and diagnosis of hyperlipidemia were not associated with adherence. These results suggest that educational and motivational interventions may enhance statin adherence because modifiable factors were associated with statin adherence.