Assessment of Medication Adherence in Cardiovascular Patients in Tertiary Care Hospital: A Prospective Observational Study

Background: Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is commonly known as disease of heart of blood vessels and is typically composed of fatty deposits. Heart attack and Heart failure are caused by the high levels of fatty tissues blocking the coronary arteries. The WHO estimates that approximately17.3 million people worldwide die each year from CVD, and that number will rise to 23 million by the year 2030. Materials and Methods: A Prospective observational study was carried out in 210 patients in cardiology department over 6 months. The Medication Adherence Rating Scale, was used to assess medication adherence. The MARS Consists of 10 questions. Scoring was done as follows: For questions 1-6 and 9-10 ‘NO’ response is indicative of adherence and given a score of 1. While questions 7 and 8 ‘YES’ response indicates adherence and given a score of 1. Total score ranges from 0-10. Results: Out of 210 patients, 113 (53.8%) patients were Good adherent, 97 (46.1%) were Bad adherent. It was observed that males were highly adherent to prescribed medication as compared to the females. Subjects of age category (41-50 years) had Good adherence, while age (81-90) had Bad adherence. Our study also reported that urban subjects and literates were Good adherent to the treatment, whereas the rural subjects and illiterates showed Bad adherence. Conclusion: Our study showed that pharmaceutical care and clinical pharmacist services has helped in improving patient’s medication adherence and patient’s quality of life.