Clinical Variation in the Treatment Practices for Medication Nonadherence, Drug–Drug Interactions, and Recognition of Disease Progression in Patients with Chronic Cardiometabolic Diseases: A Cross-Sectional Patient Simulation Study among Primary Care Physicians

BACKGROUND: Medication nonadherence in patients with chronic diseases is common, costly, and often underdiagnosed. In the United States, approximately 40–50% of patients with cardiometabolic conditions are not adherent to long-term medications. Drug–drug interactions (DDI) are also underrecognized and may lead to medication nonadherence in this patient population. Treatment complexity associated with cardiometabolic conditions contributes to increased risk for adverse drug events and DDIs. METHODS: We recruited a nationally representative sample of 246 board-certified family and internal medicine physicians to evaluate how they assessed, identified, and treated medication nonadherence, DDIs, and worsening disease. Participating physicians were asked to care for three online simulated patients, each with at least one chronic cardiometabolic disease, including atrial fibrillation, heart failure, diabetes mellitus, or hypertension, and who were taking prescription medications for their disease. Physicians' scores were based on evidence-based care recommendation criteria, including overall care quality and treatment for medication nonadherence and DDIs. RESULTS: Overall, quality-of-care scores across all cases ranged from 13% to 87% with an average of 50.8% ± 12.1%. The average overall diagnostic plus treatment score was 21.9% ± 13.6%. Participants identified nonadherence in just 3.6% of cases, DDIs in 8.9% of cases, and disease progression in 30.3% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these study results, primary care physicians were unable to adequately diagnose and treat patients with chronic cardiometabolic diseases who either suffered from medication nonadherence, DDIs, or progression of the disease. Improved standardization and technique in identifying these diagnoses is needed in primary care. Trial Registration. This trial is registered with clinicaltrials.gov, NCT05192590.