Adherence to Medication in Patients With Acute Decompensated Heart Failure

Every day, patients present to emergency department due to acute heart failure. There are many causes for decompensation. One possible cause is a lack of adherence to heart failure medication (prognosis-improving medications and diuretics). The aim of this study is to directly measure adherence in patients with acute heart failure (gold standard of adherence measurement using liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry= LC-HRMS/MS) at the emergency department. Questionnaires are used to investigate possible factors influencing adherence.

Several drugs has been shown to improve survival and to reduce the risk for hospitalization for acute heart failure (AHF) in patients with chronic heart failure. Despite optimal drug treatment, patients with heart failure suffer one hospitalization for AHF every year on average with the requirement of intravenous diuretics. Hence, AHF is one of the leading causes for emergency department visits in elderly patients. A possible cause for AHF in patients with known heart failure is nonadherence to drug treatment. Long-term-adherence to drugs of chronic diseases is low. Direct methods to assess adherence like the measurement drug levels or metabolites in body fluids are considered as the gold standard. This study aimed to i) provide (direct measured) adherence rates of patients presented with AHF to the emergency department and ii) to identify patient-related factors with impact on adherence.