Editorial Promoting Persistence Improving Adherence Through Choice of Drug Class

Medication nonadherence is a public health epidemic.Numerous studies evaluating a wide variety of drugs and conducted in varied healthcare settings have described the consistent nature of this problem.1 Hypertension is no exception: Almost half of patients become nonadherent to their antihypertensive medication within 1 year of initiating therapy.2 Although difficult to quantify precisely,3 the con-sequences of nonadherence are significant: preventable death, disability, and health spending. Article see p 1611 The complexity of therapeutic regimens, treatment side effects, cognitive impairment, misperceptions of the benefits or risks of treatment, poor provider–patient relationships, cost, and difficulties accessing physicians or pharmacies all influence the ability of patients to take their medications as prescribed.4–6 Accordingly, drugs or drug classes that diffe