CORRELATIONS BETWEEN OLDER PATIENTS’ FIRST COVID-19 VACCINATION TIMING AND MEDICATION ADHERENCE

Abstract

Abstract Medication adherence and COVID-19 vaccinations are both essential to improving health outcomes and avoiding hospitalizations. When vaccines first became available in early 2021, the CDC recommended prompt vaccination for patients age 65-and-over. Vaccine hesitant older adults are among those at the highest risk for severe outcomes from a COVID-19 infection. A retrospective study was conducted using prescription and vaccine claims data from a pharmacy chain. Patients were included if they: 1) were age 65+ as of 1/1/21; 2) had at least two prescriptions of RAS antagonists, non-insulin anti-diabetics, or statins (in 2021); and 3) received at least two doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine between 1/1/21 and 9/21/21. Patients were then split into two evenly-distributed groups based on the number of days into 2021 when they received their first vaccine dose. The outcome was the proportion of optimally adherent patients (PDC ≥ 80%) by condition as of 12/31/21. Two-proportion z-tests were performed comparing the adherent proportions of the “earlier to vaccinate” group versus the “later to vaccinate” group as of 12/31/21. Age groups analyzed were “65-74” and “75+”. The proportion of adherent patients as of 12/31/21 in the “Earlier to Vaccinate” group is higher than those in the “Later to Vaccinate” group for all three adherence metrics by 4.4% (65 to 74) and 2.2% (75+, p=0.00108*) for Diabetes, by 5.1% and 2.6% for Hypertension, and by 6.0% and 3.9% for Statins (*all other p< 0.00001). The timeliness of a patient’s first COVID-19 vaccination dose was predictive of medication adherence in 2021.