Level of Hypertension Treatment Adherence During COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background:Arterial hypertension is prevalent and remains one of the most significant causes of mortality worldwide. Over 1.7 million Bulgarians (24%) have a blood pressure (BP) value equal to or higher than 140/90 mmHg and therefore are at increased risk of complications. Adherence to antihypertensive medications is the cornerstone for achieving hypertension control. Methods:The aim of this study was to assess whether the patients of both sexes with hypertension exhibit equal adherence to medication during the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore how the pandemic has affected the adherence of patients with high BP to prescribed antihypertensive drugs. This multicentre observational study utilized self-completed questionnaires among patients visiting several healthcare centres, including the cardiology outpatient clinic of a university hospital, a private cardiology practice, general practice offices, and a pharmacy between June and November 2020. Results:Overall, 442 patients were included in the study. The likelihood of adherence was assessed using the 5‐item version of the Medication Adherence Report Scale (MARS-5©Professor Rob Horne). The average MARS score of the sample was 16.81, the median was 4.162, and the most common value was 3 (24.5% of respondents).Conclusions:Overall, 18.1% had a high degree of adherence to the prescribed therapy, and almost 1/3 of the respondents (30.7%) had a low degree of adherence to the prescribed therapy. In the present study, approximately one-third of the participants complied with pharmacological treatment. The study suggests that several sociodemographic factors but not the COVID pandemic play a role in treatment adherence.

Reporting of R&D Costs Under IAS 38 – The Case of Biopharmaceutical Companies

“…The purpose of financial statements is to provide relevant and faithful information to the users of financial information. The investment and financing decision made on the basis of this information can be detrimental not only to individuals, but to economies as a whole (Markova and Hristov, 2021). The pandemic has made biopharmaceutical companies of huge interest to investors (Biospace, 2021) and, in addition to that, government grants have also been directed to biopharmaceutical companies with the purpose of speeding up the process of developing the vaccine (Reuters, 2021).…”