Ricky Turgeon, PharmD, Scientist, CHÉOS

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UBC

Medications are central to the management of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS; “heart attacks”). Despite longstanding clinical guidelines recommending their use, approximately one in four patients do not adhere to their antiplatelet regimen after ACS, which is associated with an increased risk of recurrent cardiovascular events. Patients are often classified in an overly simplistic fashion as “adherent” or “non-adherent”, classified in binary fashion to taking ≥80% or <80% of their doses. Interventions to improve medication adherence based on these definitions have been disappointing, with modest effects in the best of cases.

Successfully taking medications consists of multiple phases, including timely initiation, correct and consistent implementation, and continuation for the intended duration. Therefore, non-adherence can present as several different patterns or trajectories with consequences that may not be captured using traditional binary definitions. Furthermore, these trajectories may have distinct causes that may allow for tailored interventions. This Work in Progress Seminar will provide an overview of the methods used to identify medication use/adherence trajectories and the evidence for these trajectories, and discuss our recent efforts to explore trajectories of adherence to P2Y12 inhibitors and their predictors and prognostic implications among patients with ACS. Finally, we will discuss future clinical and research implications and next steps to extend this research to other cardiovascular disease states.

Online event (registration required)

May 11, 2022 12:00–1:00 PM PT More info & register: bit.ly/RTurgeonWiP