Effect of a pharmacist‐led intervention on adherence among patients with a first‐time prescription for a cardiovascular medicine: a randomized controlled trial in Norwegian pharmacies

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether a pharmacist‐led intervention improves medication adherence among patients who have filled a first‐time prescription for a cardiovascular medicine. METHODS: Design: Unblinded randomized controlled trial. Setting: 67 Norwegian pharmacies, October 2014–June 2015. Participants: 1480 adults with a first‐time prescription for a cardiovascular medicine. Intervention: Participants in the intervention group received two consultations with a pharmacist 1–2 and 3–5 weeks after filling the prescription. Participants in the control group received care according to usual practice. Main outcome measure: The primary outcome was self‐reported adherence as measured by the 8‐item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS‐8), at 7 and 18 weeks after filling the prescription. Adherence from baseline to week 52 was estimated using data from the Norwegian Prescription Database (NPD). KEY FINDINGS: Data from MMAS‐8 showed that 91.3% of the patients in the intervention group were adherent after 7 weeks versus 86.8% in the control group (4.5% difference, 95% CI 0.8–8.2, P = 0.017). The corresponding proportions were 88.7% versus 83.7% after 18 weeks (5.0% difference, 95% CI 0.8–9.2, P = 0.021). NPD data (n = 1294) showed no significant difference in adherence after 52 weeks (95% CI −2.0 to 7.8, P = 0.24). However, adherence among statin users (n = 182) was 66.5% in the intervention group versus 57.4% among new statin users in the general population (n = 1500) (difference 9.1%, 95% CI 1.5–16.0, P = 0.019). CONCLUSION: The main outcome measure indicates that a short, structured pharmacist‐led intervention may increase medication adherence for patients starting on chronic cardiovascular medication. However, these findings could not be confirmed by the NPD data analysis.