Background: As advised by the European guidelines on cardiovascular prevention, medication intake is a major component of secondary prevention. The aim of this study is to provide an in-depth overview of the medication intake in stable European coronary heart disease (CHD) patients.
Methods: Analyses are based on the EUROASPIRE IV survey, including CHD patients (18 to 80 years) who were hospitalized for a coronary event. These patients were interviewed and examined 6 months to 3 years after their hospitalization. Information on cardiovascular medication intake is available for 7953 patients.
Results: About 99.2% of patients were on any kind of cardiovascular medication and 67.6% of patients were taking at least 5 different cardiovascular drugs. Overall, even when patients are taking the recommended drug combination as advised by the European guidelines - accounting for their disease profile - a large proportion of patients is still not on blood pressure, LDL-C or HbA1c target. In addition, huge variations were seen in medication dose intake across countries. Comparing the dose intake to the defined daily dose (DDD as published by the WHO) indicated a substantial deviation from the DDDs for a large proportion of patients.
Conclusion: This study provides a unique overview of the cardiovascular medication intake in CHD patients. Overall, even when patients are taking the advised drug combination, a large proportion of patients is still not on risk factor target. Physicians should seek for a balance in medication intake and appropriate dose, accounting both for the benefits and risks of chronic drug intake.
Keywords: Coronary heart disease; EUROASPIRE; Medication.
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