Association of functional and structural social support with medication adherence among individuals treated for coronary heart disease risk factors: Findings from the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study

Favel L. Mondesir, April P. Carson, Raegan W. Durant, Marquita W. Lewis, Monika M. Safford, Emily B. Levitan*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background Functional social support has a stronger association with medical treatment adherence than structural social support in several populations and disease conditions. Using a contemporary U.S. population of adults treated with medications for coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors, the association between social support and medication adherence was examined. Methods We included 17,113 black and white men and women with CHD or CHD risk factors aged 45 years recruited 2003–2007 from the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study. Participants reported their perceived social support (structural social support: being partnered, number of close friends, number of close relatives, and number of other adults in household; functional social support: having a caregiver in case of sickness or disability; combination of structural and functional social support: number of close friends or relatives seen at least monthly). Medication adherence was assessed using a 4-item scale. Multi-variable adjusted Poisson regression models were used to calculate prevalence ratios (PR) for the association between social support and medication adherence. Results Prevalence of medication adherence was 68.9%. Participants who saw >10 close friends or relatives at least monthly had higher prevalence of medication adherence (PR = 1.06; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.11) than those who saw 3 per month. Having a caregiver in case of sickness or disability, being partnered, number of close friends, number of close relatives, and number of other adults in household were not associated with medication adherence after adjusting for covariates. Conclusions Seeing multiple friends and relatives was associated with better medication adherence among individuals with CHD risk factors. Increasing social support with combined structural and functional components may help support medication adherence.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbere0198578
JournalPloS one
Volume13
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2018

Funding

The REGARDS study is supported by a cooperative agreement U01 NS041588 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Service. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke or the National Institutes of Health. Representatives of the funding agency have been involved in the review of the manuscript but not directly involved in the collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data. The authors thank the other investigators, the staff, and the participants of the REGARDS study for their valuable contributions. A full list of participating REGARDS investigators and institutions can be found at http://www.regardsstudy.org. This work was also supported by American Heart Association Greater Southeast Affiliate Grant 16PRE29640015 (MONDESIR); received by FLM. The authors are solely responsible for the design and conduct of this study, all study analyses, the drafting and editing of the manuscript, and its final contents. A. P.C. receives funding from Amgen for unrelated work, R.W.D receives funding from Amgen and Amarin for unrelated work, M.M.S receives funding from Amgen and diaDexus for unrelated work, E.B. L receives funding from Amgen for unrelated work and has consulted for Amgen and Novartis. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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