Medication compliance and clinical outcomes of fixed-dose combinations vs free combinations of an angiotensin II receptor blocker and a calcium channel blocker in hypertension treatment.

Using the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, the authors identified 1136 patients taking fixed-dose combination and 4544 patients taking free combinations of an angiotensin II receptor blocker and a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker from January 2009 to December 2012. At a mean follow-up of 2.1 years, the fixed-dose combination was associated with improved medication adherence and persistence and better survival free from major adverse cardiac events and hospitalization for heart failure compared with the free combination regimens.