Sex Differences in Prescription Patterns and Medication Adherence to Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy Among Patients With Ischemic Stroke

BACKGROUND: Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of death and disability. Society guidelines recommend pharmacotherapies for secondary stroke prevention. However, the role of sex differences in prescription and adherence to guideline-directed medical therapies (GDMT) after ischemic stroke remains understudied. The aim of this study was to examine sex differences in prescription patterns and adherence to GDMT at 1 year after ischemic stroke in a cohort of commercially insured patients. METHODS: Using the Truven Health MarketScan database from 2016 to 2020, we identified patients admitted with ischemic stroke. GDMT was defined as any statin, antihypertensive agents, or oral anticoagulant prescription within 30 days after discharge. Medication adherence was estimated using the proportion of days covered at 1 year. The proportion of days covered <0.80 was used to define nonadherence. A multivariable model adjusting for covariates was performed to identify the factors associated with nonadherence at 1 year. This analysis was restricted to new users of GDMT. RESULTS: Among 155220 patients admitted with acute ischemic stroke during the study period, 15919 met the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 55.7 years, and 8218 (51.7%) were women. Women were less likely to be prescribed statins (58.0% versus 71.8%) and antihypertensive agents (27.7% versus 41.8%). In this subset of patients with atrial flutter/fibrillation, women were also less likely to be prescribed oral anticoagulants (41.2% versus 45.0%). Women were more likely to be nonadherent (ie, proportion of days covered <0.80) to statins (47.3% versus 41.6%; P<0.0001), antihypertensives (33.3% versus 32.2%; P=0.005), and the combination of both (49.6% versus 45.0%; P=0.003). On multivariable analysis, women were likely to be nonadherent to statins and antihypertensive agents at 1 year (odds ratio, 1.23 [95% CI, 1.08-1.41]). CONCLUSIONS: In this real-world analysis of commercially insured patients with ischemic stroke, women were less likely initiated on GDMT within 30 days after discharge. Women were more likely to be nonadherent to statins and antihypertensive agents at 1 year. Future efforts and novel interventions are needed to understand the reasons and minimize these disparities.