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. 2017 Apr 20;17:66. doi: 10.1186/s12874-017-0339-z

Table 1.

Baseline characteristics

Characteristic Non-Adherent* (n = 4,112) Adherent (n = 4,939) Total (n = 9,051) p-value£
n (%) n (%) n (%)
Age mean (SD) 64.2 (12.6) 65.4 (12.0) 64.8 (12.3) 0.01£
<55 1050 (25.5%) 1071 (21.7%) 2121 (23.4%) 0.30
55–65 1036 (25.2%) 1311 (26.5%) 2347 (25.9%)
66–73 849 (20.6%) 1062 (21.5%) 1911 (21.1%)
≥74 1177 (28.6%) 1495 (30.3%) 2672 (29.5%)
Male gender 2854 (69.4%) 3406 (69.0%) 6260 (69.2%) 0.91
Index year 1994–1997 329 (8.0%) 218 (4.3%) 547 (6.0%) <0.01
1998–2001 1141 (27.7%) 922 (18.7%) 2466 (22.8%)
2002–2005 1777 (43.2%) 2018 (41.0%) 4202 (41.9%)
2006–2007 865 (21.0%) 1781 (36%) 2135 (30.0%)
Type of index diagnosis ACS+ revascularization procedure 2098 (51.0%) 3149 (64.7%) 5292 (58.5%) <0.01
ACS only 2014 (49.0%) 1745 (35.3%) 3759 (41.5%)
Duration (in days) of index hospitalization mean (SD) 9.2 (8.5) 8.2 (9.9) 8.9 (9.0) <0.01
≥10 days 935 (22.7%) 1378 (27.9%) 2313 (25.6%) <0.01
Time (in days) from index to statin prescription mean (SD) 10.3 (21.4) 7.7 (18.7) 8.5 (19.6) <0.01
>1 day 1011 (24.6%) 894 (18.1%) 1905 (21.0%) <0.01
At least one prescription in post-index year BB 3449 (83.9%) 4262 (86.3%) 7711 (85.2%) <0.01
ACEI/ARB 3199 (77.8%) 7282 (86.7%) 7481 (82.7%) <0.01
CCB 890 (21.6%) 1078 (21.8%) 1968 (21.7%) 0.96
diuretic 1389 (33.8%) 1865 (37.8%) 3254 (36.0%) <0.01
anticoagulants 586 (14.3%) 870 (17.6%) 1456 (16.1%) <0.01
antiplatelet 2228 (54.2%) 3108 (64.4%) 5408 (59.8%) <0.01
nitrates 2916 (70.9%) 3529 (71.5%) 6445 (71.2%) 0.92
other lipid drugs 213 (5.2%) 187 (3.8%) 400 (4.4%) <0.01
At least a statin prescription with 28 days’ supply (as an evidence of unit-of-use packaging) 174 (4.2%) 510 (10.3%) 684 (7.6%) <0.01
High statin dose on first prescription post index 2141 (52.1%) 3166 (64.1%) 5307 (58.6%) <0.01
Atorvastatin on first prescription post index 2933 (59.4%) 2388 (58.1%) 5321 (58.8%) 0.17
>4 distinct non-statin medications received in post-index year 2397 (58.3%) 3302 (66.9%) 5699 (63.0%) <0.01
Chronic disease score ≥4 404 (8.2%) 325 (7.9%) 729 (8.1%) 0.63
Diagnosis in pre-index year DM 532 (12.9%) 700 (14.2%) 1232 (13.6%) 0.62
HTN 1406 (34.2%) 1919 (38.9%) 3325 (36.7%) 0.01
Specialty of prescribing physician of the first statin prescription GP 633 (15.4%) 579 (11.7%) 1212 (13.4%) <0.01
cardiologist 1937 (47.1%) 2673 (54.1%) 4610 (50.9%)
internist 984 (23.9%) 998 (20.2%) 1982 (21.9%)
cardiac surgeon 239 (5.8%) 384 (7.8%) 623 (6.9%)
other 319 (7.8%) 305 (6.2%) 624 (6.9%)
≥5 physician’s visits in the first 3 months 3030 (73.7%) 3849 (77.9%) 6879 (76.0%) <0.01
Any hospitalization in pre-index year 1011 (24.6%) 1109 (22.5%) 2120 (23.4%) <0.01
Deprivation index quintile missing 168 (4.1%) 161 (3.3%) 329 (3.6%) -
1 (most deprived) 871 (21.2%) 947 (19.2%) 1818 (20.1%) 0.01
2 680 (16.5%) 789 (16.0%) 1469 (16.2%)
3 881 (21.4%) 1109 (22.5%) 1990 (22.0%)
4 779 (18.9%) 1006 (20.4%) 1785 (19.7%)
5 (least deprived) 733 (17.8%) 927 (18.8%) 1660 (18.3%)

*Individuals with PDC of less than 80% were considered non-adherent. Abbreviations: ACS acute coronary syndrome, ACEI/ARB angiotensin converting enzyme-inhibitor/angiotensin receptor-blockers, BB beta-blockers, CCBs calcium channel blockers, DM diabetes mellitus, GP general practitioner, HTN hypertension, PDC proportion of days covered, PROC procedure of revascularization; €: High dose statin was defined as having rosuvastatin >5 mg, atorvastatin ≥20 mg, or simvastatin ≥40 mg; £: tests of differences for continuous variables were conducted using t-tests and for categorical variables were conducted using chi-square tests;