Background The burden of cardiovascular disease is increasing, with many people treated for multiple cardiovascular conditions. We examined persistence and adherence to medicines for cardiovascular disease treatment or prevention in Australia. Methods and Results Using national dispensing claims for a 10% random sample of people, we identified adults (≥18 years) initiating antihypertensives, statins, oral anticoagulants, or antiplatelets in 2018. We measured persistence to therapy using a 60‐day permissible gap, and adherence using the proportion of days covered up to 3 years from initiation, and from first to last dispensing. We reported outcomes by age, sex, and cardiovascular multimedicine use. We identified 83 687 people initiating antihypertensives (n=37 941), statins (n=34 582), oral anticoagulants (n=15 435), or antiplatelets (n=7726). Around one‐fifth of people discontinued therapy within 90 days, with 50% discontinuing within the first year. Although many people achieved high adherence (proportion of days covered ≥80%) within the first year, these rates were higher when measured from first to last dispensing (40.5% and 53.2% for statins; 55.6% and 80.5% for antiplatelets, respectively). Persistence was low at 3 years (17.5% antiplatelets to 37.3% anticoagulants). Persistence and adherence increased with age, with minor differences by sex. Over one‐third of people had cardiovascular multimedicine use (reaching 92% among antiplatelet users): they had higher persistence and adherence than people using medicines from only 1 cardiovascular group. Conclusions Persistence to cardiovascular medicines decreases substantially following initiation, but adherence remains high while people are using therapy. Cardiovascular multimedicine use is common, and people using multiple cardiovascular medicines have higher rates of persistence and adherence.

Purpose To investigate trends in SGLT2i and GLP-1RA use in Australia in the era of increased evidence of their cardiovascular benefits. Methods We used national dispensing claims for a 10% random sample of Australians to estimate the number of prevalent and new users (no dispensing in the prior year) of SGLT2i or GLP-1RA per month from January 2014 to July 2022. We assessed prescriber specialty and prior use of other antidiabetic and cardiovascular medicines as a proxy for evidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular conditions, respectively. Results We found a large increase in the number of prevalent users (216-fold for SGLT2i; 11-fold for GLP-1RA); in July 2022 approximately 250,000 Australians were dispensed SGLT2i and 120,000 GLP-1RA. Most new users of SGLT2i or GLP-1RA had evidence of both T2D and cardiovascular conditions, although from 2022 onwards, approximately one in five new users of SGLT2i did not have T2D. The proportion of new users initiating SGLT2i by cardiologists increased after 2021, reaching 10.0% of initiations in July 2022. Among new users with evidence of cardiovascular conditions, empagliflozin was the most commonly prescribed SGLT2i, while dulaglutide or semaglutide was the most common GLP-1RA. Conclusion SGLT2i and GLP-1RA use is increasing in Australia, particularly in populations with higher cardiovascular risk. The increased use of SGLT2i among people without evidence of T2D suggests that best-evidence medicines are adopted in Australia across specialties, aligning with new evidence and expanding indications.

Background: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), particularly methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), remains the predominant cause of infections in drug users. The cross-sectional study aims to elucidate the prevalence, risk factors, phenotypic and molecular characteristics of S. aureus carriage among community-based drug users.Methods: All eligible drug users, both intravenous and oral drug users, were asked to complete questionnaires and collect nasal swabs during the period between May and December 2017 in Guangzhou, China. Swabs were processed for identification of S. aureus. Antimicrobial susceptibility test and polymerase chain reaction assays were used to detect phenotypic and molecular characteristics for identified isolates. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to assess risk factors for S. aureus carriage.Results: Overall, 353 drug users were included in the study and the prevalence of S. aureus carriage was 15.01% (53/353). The prevalence of MRSA carriage was 6.80% (24/353). Cohabitation was a risk factor for S. aureus (adjusted OR=8.80, 95% CI: 1.89-40.99). The proportion of multidrug resistance was 54.72% for S. aureus isolates and most of these isolates were resistant to penicillin, erythromycin and clindamycin. Seventeen MRSA isolates were multidrug resistant. The results of clonal complexes (CCs) and sequence types (STs) for S. aureus were diverse. The three predominant types for CCs were CC5 (64.15%, 34/53), CC59 (11.32%, 6/53), and CC7 (7.55%, 4/53); and for STs were ST188 (20.75%, 11/53), ST5 (11.32%, 6/53), and ST59 (11.32%, 6/53). Conclusion: The prevalence of S. aureus nasal carriage was lower when the prevalence of MRSA carriage was moderate. Phenotypic and molecular characteristics of S. aureus isolates, particularly MRSA isolates, revealed serious antibiotic resistance, indicating the existence of cross-circulation, and implying high opportunity of virulence-related diseases. Decolonization might be considered for drug users with MRSA carriage.

Background: Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remained the predominant cause of infections in drug users. The cross-sectional study aimed to elucidate the prevalence, risk factors, phenotypic and molecular characteristics of S. aureus and MRSA carriage among community-based drug users. Methods: Eligible drug users were asked to complete questionnaires and collect nasal swabs during May and December 2017 in Guangzhou, China. Swabs were processed for identification of S. aureus and MRSA. Antimicrobial susceptibility test and polymerase chain reaction assays were used to detect phenotypic and molecular characteristics for identified isolates. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to assess risk factors for S. aureus and MRSA carriage. Results: Overall, the prevalence of S. aureus and MRSA carriage in 353 drug users were 15.01% and 6.79%, respectively. Cohabitation was a risk factor for S. aureus (adjusted OR=8.80, 95% CI: 1.89-40.99) and MRSA (adjusted OR=14.30, 95% CI: 2.67-76.46) carriage. The proportions of multidrug resistance were respectively 72.41% and 89.47% for S. aureus and MRSA isolates and were simultaneously resistant to penicillin, erythromycin and clindamycin. The results of clonal complexes and sequence types for S. aureus and MRSA isolates were diverse. The proportions of virulence genes were high for MRSA isolates. Conclusion: The prevalence of S. aureus nasal carriage was lower while the prevalence of MRSA nasal carriage was moderate. Phenotypic and molecular characteristics of MRSA isolates revealed serious antibiotic resistance, indicating the cross-circulation of MRSA isolates, and imply high opportunity of virulence-related diseases. Decolonization might be considered for drug users with MRSA carriage, especially for those with risk factors.

Background: Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ), particularly methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), remains the predominant cause of infections in drug users. This cross-sectional study aims to elucidate the prevalence, risk factors, phenotypic and molecular characteristics of S. aureus carriage among community-based drug users. Methods: All eligible drug users, with both injection and non-injection route of drug administration , were asked to complete questionnaires and collect nasal swabs by trained personal during the period between May and December 2017 in Guangzhou, China. Swabs were processed for identification of S. aureus . Antimicrobial susceptibility test and polymerase chain reaction assays were used to detect phenotypic and molecular characteristics for identified isolates. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to assess risk factors for S. aureus carriage. Results: Overall, 353 drug users were included in the study and the prevalence of S. aureus carriage was 15.01% (53/353). The prevalence of MRSA carriage was 6.80% (24/353). Cohabitation was a risk factor for S. aureus (adjusted OR=8.80, 95% CI: 1.89-40.99). The proportion of multidrug resistance was 54.72% for S. aureus isolates and most of these isolates were resistant to penicillin, erythromycin and clindamycin. Seventeen MRSA isolates were multidrug resistant. The results of clonal complexes (CCs) and sequence types (STs) for S. aureus were diverse. The three predominant types for CCs were CC5 (64.15%, 34/53), CC59 (11.32%, 6/53), and CC7 (7.55%, 4/53); and for STs were ST188 (20.75%, 11/53), ST5 (11.32%, 6/53), and ST59 (11.32%, 6/53). Conclusion: The prevalence of S. aureus nasal carriage was lower while the prevalence of MRSA carriage was moderate compared to previous studies. Phenotypic and molecular characteristics of S. aureus isolates, particularly MRSA isolates, revealed high proportions of antibiotic resistance, indicating the existence of cross-circulation, and implying high opportunity of virulence-related diseases. Decolonization and antibiotic stewardship might be implemented for drug users with MRSA carriage.