Biochemical Urine Testing of Adherence to Cardiovascular Medications Reveals High Rates of Nonadherence in People Attending Their Annual Review for Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE Liquid chromatography—tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is a new method to objectively and robustly detect nonadherence. We applied this technique to study nonadherence to cardiovascular medications in people with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Routine urine samples, received at the time of the annual diabetes review from 228 people with T2DM in primary care, were assessed for adherence by LC-MS/MS. RESULTS A total of 28.1% patients (N = 64) were nonadherent to antidiabetic, antihypertensive, and/or lipid-lowering medications. Nonadherence to statins was the highest at 23.7%, and nonadherence to oral hypoglycemic agents was 9.3%. HbA1c, albumin-to-creatinine ratio, and lipid profiles were significantly higher in the patients who were nonadherent compared with those who were adherent to treatment. CONCLUSIONS This unique study shows that routine urine samples can be used for adherence testing screening by LC-MS/MS and has demonstrated high nonadherence rates especially to statins in people with T2DM. Future intervention studies using LC-MS/MS as a diagnostic/therapeutic tool may help to improve clinical outcomes.