Objectives: Hypertension is a leading cause of death and disease burden followed by dyslipidemia. Their asymptomatic nature leads to low adherence and persistence to treatments. A systematic literature review (SLR) investigated the impact of single-pill-combinations (SPC) compared to free-equivalent combination (FEC) on adherence, persistence, clinical outcomes, healthcare resource utilization (HCRU), and patient-reported outcomes, in patients with hypertension, dyslipidemia, or both.
Methods: MEDLINE, MEDLINE-IN-PROCESS, Embase, and Cochrane were searched from inception until 11 May 2021, for studies comparing SPC against FEC in patients with hypertension and/or dyslipidemia. Patient characteristics, study design, therapies, measures of adherence or persistence, clinical outcomes, and follow-up were extracted.
Results: Among 52 studies identified in the SLR, 27 (n = 346,030 patients) were included in the meta-analysis. SPCs were associated with significantly improved adherence compared with FEC, as assessed through medication-possession-ratio ≥80% (odds ratio (OR) 0.42, p < 0.01) and proportion of days covered ≥80% (OR 0.45, p < 0.01). SPC also improved persistence (OR 0.44, p < 0.01) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) reduction (mean difference -1.50, p < 0.01) compared with the FEC.
Conclusions: SPC use resulted in significantly improved adherence, persistence, and SBP levels compared with FEC in patients with hypertension. The findings support SPC use in reducing the burden of hypertension and dyslipidemia.
Keywords: Adherence; dyslipidemia; free-equivalent combinations; hypertension; persistence; single-pill combination therapy.
High blood pressure is a leading cause of death and disease burden followed by high lipid levels in the blood. Due to the silent nature of the diseases, patients can fall short of optimal medical treatment adherence and persistence, leading to poor outcomes and disease complications. Simplification of the treatment regimen can be achieved using SPC therapies. The study was conducted to look for published studies that compared the use of SPC with FEC in patients with high blood pressure, high lipid levels in the blood, or both. The researchers were able to find 52 already published studies, of which, 27 studies reported adherence, persistence, and SBP reduction which were included in the data analysis. Researchers found SPCs to be associated with much greater improved adherence and persistence and a higher reduction in SBP when compared with FEC in high blood pressure patients. These findings support SPC use in reducing the burden of high blood pressure and high lipid levels in the blood.