Utility of Big Data to Explore Medication Adherence in Maori and Non-Maori Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Heart Failure in Aotearoa New Zealand: A Cross-sectional Study

BackgroundMedication adherence improves morbidity and mortality-related outcomes in heart failure, and knowledge of patterns of medication adherence supports patient and clinician decision-making. Routinely collected national data facilitate the exploration of medication adherence and associated factors in older adults with heart failure, including the association between ethnicity and adherence. There are known inequities in access to medicines between Maori (Indigenous People of Aotearoa New Zealand) and non-Maori, yet ethnic variation in medicines adherence in community-dwelling older adults with heart failure has not been explored.ObjectiveHere we identify medication adherence rates for community-dwelling older adults diagnosed with heart failure and differences in adherence rates between Maori and non-Maori.MethodsCross-sectional analysis of interRAI (comprehensive standardised assessment) data in a continuously recruited national cohort from 2012 to 2019.ResultsOverall, 13,743 assessments (Maori N = 1526) for older community-dwelling adults with heart failure diagnoses were included. The mean age of participants was 74.5 years [standard deviation (SD) 9.1 years] for Maori and 82.3 years (SD 7.8 years) non-Maori. In the Maori cohort, 21.8% did not adhere fully to their medication regimen, whereas in the non-Maori cohort, this figure was 12.8%. After adjusting for confounders, the Maori cohort were more likely to be medication non-adherent than non-Maori [prevalence ratio 1.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.36-1.73].ConclusionsThere was a significant disparity between Maori and non-Maori concerning medication adherence. Given the international use of the interRAI-HC assessment tool, these results have significant transferability to other countries and allow the identification of underserved ethnic groups for which culturally appropriate interventions can be targeted.