Comparison of characteristics of adherent and non-adherent patients
| Variable | Factor 1 (unintentional) non-adherence (N=500) | Factor 2 (intentional) non-adherence (N=500) | Overall non-adherence (N=502) | ||||||
| Adherent (N=314) | Non-adherent (N=186) | P value | Adherent (N=435) | Non-adherent (N=65) | P value | Adherent (N=283) | Non-adherent (N=219) | P value | |
| Age (years), median (range) | 71 (45–92) | 67 (38–92) | <0.05 | 70 (45–92) | 67 (38–92) | <0.05 | 71 (45–92) | 67 (38–92) | <0.05 |
| Male sex, n (%) | 242 (77.1) | 160 (86.0) | <0.05 | 351 (80.7) | 51 (78.5) | NS | 219 (77.4) | 184 (84.0) | NS |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 48 (15.3) | 14 (7.5) | <0.05 | 51 (11.7) | 11 (16.9) | NS | 40 (14.1) | 22 (10.0) | NS |
| Coronary artery bypass graft, n (%) | 134 (42.7) | 56 (30.1) | <0.05 | 167 (38.4) | 23 (35.4) | NS | 119 (42.0) | 72 (32.9) | <0.05 |
| Angioplasty, n (%) | 169 (53.8) | 116 (62.4) | NS | 242 (55.6) | 43 (66.2) | NS | 150 (53.0) | 136 (62.1) | <0.05 |
| Number of medicines, median (range) | 7 (2–19) | 6 (2–20) | <0.05 | 6 (2–20) | 7 (3–19) | <0.05 | 7 (2–18) | 6 (2–20) | NS |
| Doses per day, median (range) | 7 (1–24) | 6 (2–22) | <0.05 | 6 (1–24) | 7 (2–10) | NS | 7 (1–24) | 6 (2–22) | NS |
| Number of daily administration times, mean (SD) | 2.47 (0.86) | 2.31 (0.74) | <0.05 | 2.39 (0.81) | 2.54 (0.87) | NS | 2.46 (0.86) | 2.35 (0.76) | NS |
| Taking aspirin, n (%) | 265 (84.4) | 172 (92.5) | <0.05 | 375 (86.2) | 62 (95.4) | <0.05 | 237 (83.7) | 202 (92.2) | <0.05 |
| Taking beta-blocker, n (%) | 224 (71.3) | 130 (69.9) | NS | 315 (72.4) | 39 (60.0) | <0.05 | 205 (72.4) | 151 (68.9) | NS |
Only variables with statistical significance in at least one of the non-adherence categories are reported here. Two-sided p-values were calculated using Mann-Whitney U test or independent-samples t-test, or χ2 test or Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate.
NS, not significant.