Medication adherence among gout patients initiated allopurinol : a retrospective cohort study in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD)

Objectives: When urate lowering therapy is indicated in patients with gout, medication adherence is essential. This study assesses non-persistence and non-adherence in patients with newly diagnosed gout, and identifies factors associated with poor medication adherence. Methods: A retrospective data analysis was performed within the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (1987-2014) among incident gout patients, aged ⩾40 years and starting allopurinol (n = 48 280). The proportion of patients non-persistent (a first medication gap of ⩾90 days) after 1 and 5 years, and median time until a first 90-day gap was estimated using Kaplan-Meier statistics in those starting allopurinol and restarting after a first interruption. Non-adherence (proportion of days covered