Adherence to perindopril/amlodipine/atorvastatin combination according to the administration strategy.

Aims: To compare adherence to perindopril/amlodipine/atorvastatin combination administrated as a polypill (one pill) vs separate tablets.

Methods: Using the healthcare utilization database of Lombardy (Italy), 1 110 patients who received the perindopril/amlodipine/atorvastatin polypill during 2019-2021 were matched with 1 110 patients prescribed the same combination in separate tablets or as two antihypertensive drugs in a single tablet and the lipid-lowering drug tablet separately. Adherence to treatment was assessed over the year after the first perindopril/amlodipine/atorvastatin dispensation as the proportion of the follow-up days covered by prescription (PDC).

The diagnostic approach and management of hypertension in the emergency department.

Hypertension urgency and emergency represents a challenging condition in which clinicians should determine the assessment and/or treatment of these patients. Whether the elevation of blood pressure (BP) levels is temporary, in need of treatment, or reflects a chronic hypertensive state is not always easy to unravel. Unfortunately, current guidelines provide few recommendations concerning the diagnostic approach and treatment of emergency department patients presenting with severe hypertension.

Adherence to antidiabetic drug therapy and reduction of fatal events in elderly frail patients.

Background: To evaluate the protective effect of oral antidiabetic drugs in a large cohort of elderly patients with type 2 diabetes differing for age, clinical status, and life expectancy, including patients with multiple comorbidities and short survival.

Methods: A nested case-control study was carried out by including the cohort of 188,983 patients from Lombardy (Italy), aged ≥ 65 years, who received ≥ 3 consecutive prescriptions of antidiabetic agents (mostly metformin and other older conventional agents) during 2012. Cases were the 49,201 patients who died for any cause during follow-up (up to 2018).

The impact of renal denervation procedure on use of antihypertensive drugs in the real-life setting.

. Randomised controlled trials have shown that renal denervation lowers office and ambulatory blood pressure. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether patients undergoing renal denervation procedure in a real-life setting have a reduction in antihypertensive drug prescription over the subsequent years.

Adherence to Lipid-Lowering Treatment by Single-Pill Combination of Statin and Ezetimibe.

Introduction: Although several studies have shown that a simplified cardiovascular drug treatment leads to better treatment adherence, limited and conflicting findings have been reported on the separate or single-pill combination of the now recommended association between a statin and ezetimibe. We addressed this issue in a large cohort of patients newly treated with statins to whom ezetimibe was additionally administered, either separately or as a single-pill combination.

Methods: A total of 256,012 patients (age 40-80 years) from the Lombardy Region (Italy) newly treated with statins during 2011-2013 were followed until 2018 to identify those to whom ezetimibe was added.

Adherence to Treatment by Initial Antihypertensive Mono and Combination Therapies.

Background: Aim of our study was to compare adherence to antihypertensive drug therapy between newly treated patients in whom monotherapy or a 2-drug single-pill combination (SPC) was initially dispensed.

Methods: The 63,448 residents of Lombardy Region (Italy), aged 40-80 years, who were newly treated with antihypertensive drugs during 2016, were identified and followed for 1 year after the first prescription. The outcome of interest was adherence to drug therapy that was measured according to the "proportion of days covered" (PDC) criterion, i.

Statin treatment reduces the risk of death among elderly frail patients: evidence from a large population-based cohort.

Aims: To assess the protective effect of statins in a large and unselected cohort of frail elderly subjects.

Methods And Results: The 460 460 Lombardy residents (Italy), aged ≥65 years, who received ≥3 consecutive prescriptions of a statin during 2011-2012 were identified. A case-control study was performed, the cases being the cohort members who died during 2011-2018.

Antihypertensive Treatment in Elderly Frail Patients: Evidence From a Large Italian Database.

Aim of our study was to assess the relationship between adherence with antihypertensive drugs and the risk of death in frail versus nonfrail old individuals. Using the database of the Lombardy Region (Italy), we identified 1 283 602 residents aged ≥65 years (mean age 76) who had ≥3 prescriptions of antihypertensive drugs between 2011 and 2012. A nested case-control design was applied, with cases being the cohort members who died during the observation period (7 years).