Background
Long term persistence on statin drugs
has been shown to be unsatisfactory,
however, there is little recent Australian
data. This study examines current
persistence Australia-wide in patients
who have been newly prescribed a statin
drug.
Discussion
Unsatisfactory long term persistence
on statin therapy has changed little
over the past 10 years. There may be
an opportunity for early intervention
within 3–4 weeks of initiation to improve
persistence, as valuable resources are
being wasted and an opportunity for
disease prevention missed.
Results
For 77 867 patients initiated to statin,
86% of prescriptions came from general
practitioners. Forty-three percent of
patients discontinued statin within
6 months, 23% failed to collect their
first repeat at 1 month, and median
persistence time was only 11 months.
In those aged 65–74 years, median
persistence time was 19 months but only
3–6 months for those less than 55 years.
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