Bedside assessment of the risk of non-compliance to medication is associated with mortality in elderly patients admitted for acute coronary syndromes

Background Elderly patients are at high risk of mortality in the setting of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Purpose We investigated whether compliance assessed by Compliance Evaluation Test (CET) in elderly patients admitted for acute coronary syndromes was associated with higher risk of one-year mortality. Methods We used the data from a prospective, open, ongoing cohort of patients ≥75 years old admitted for ACS to a tertiary center. The CET is a validated 6 item test easily performed at bedside. Non-compliance is defined by ≥ “Yes” answers. We used a Cox model, un-adjusted and adjusted on predefined correlates of mortality (age, gender, and GRACE score) to assess the relationship between the risk of non-compliance and 1-year mortality. Results Two hundred fifty-five consecutive patients (age 83±5, female gender 59.6%, GRACE score 175±24) with CET assessment within 48 hours after admission and 1 year follow-up were included in the analysis. 225 (88%) were identified as compliant and 30 (12%) as non-compliant based on the CET. Thirthy-six deaths occurred at 1 year follow-up, 24 (10.6%) and 12 (30%) in compliant and non-compliant patients respectively. There was an almost 4-fold increase in the risk of one-year mortality in association with non-compliance (HR 4.16; 95% CI 2.03 to 8.5, p Conclusions In elderly patients admitted for ACS, the risk of non-compliance assessed by the simple bedside test is associated with a 4-fold increase in the risk of 1-year mortality independent of other correlates of mortality. Our results support specific measures to improve compliance in such patients. Survival based on compliance test Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None