• N K Devaraj, M Mohamed, and N Hussein.
• Universiti Putra Malaysia, Department of Family Medicine, 43400,Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. knavin@upm.edu.my.
• Med. J. Malaysia. 2017 Jun 1; 72 (3): 157-164.

BackgroundHyperlipidaemia is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, adherence to lipidlowering therapy is often unsatisfactory due to a combination of patient factors, therapy, socio-economic and health system-related factors.Aimsto identify the prevalence of adherence to lipidlowering therapy, the factors contributing to non-adherence and knowledge regarding hyperlipidaemia and its' treatment among Malaysian patients with hyperlipidemia.MethodsA quantitative study using a cross-sectional survey was carried out in an urban primary care clinic in August 2015. Patients on lipid-lowering therapy for ≥ 1 year aged ≥ 18 years were selected using simple random sampling. consenting patients answered a selfadministered questionnaire (in Malay/English) which included socio-demographic profile, hyperlipidaemia profile, adherence to lipid-lowering therapy (using the Morisky Medication Adherence scale-8; score ≥ 6 taken as adherent), reasons leading to non-adherence, knowledge regarding hyperlipidaemia and its' treatment, and use of non-allopathic medicine.Resultsthe response rate was 90.7%. the prevalence of adherence to lipid-lowering therapy was 82.4%. "the most common reasons for non-adherence was being worried about side effect of lipid-lowering agent (71.4%), followed by the need to take too many drugs in a day (61.4%) and negative influences by friends, relative and mass media (60%)". Factors associated with non-adherence include male gender, on longer duration of therapy, less frequency of follow-up, less number of follow-up clinics, taking medication at night/random timing and having lower knowledge scores.ConclusionOverall the prevalence of adherence was high in patients with hyperlipidaemia. Interventions to boost adherence should target those who were identified as nonadherent.

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