Patient characteristics per cohort and adherence rates in the 18 months previous to the cost-sharing change
| Control group | Intervention groups | ||
| Characteristics | Low-income working population | Pensioners | Middle-income to high-income working population |
| Number of patients | 1839 | 8715 | 639 |
| Average age | 51.0 | 71.3 | 51.3 |
| % Females | 16.2 | 32.4 | 10.7 |
| % Acute myocardial infarction | 84.1 | 73.4 | 85.1 |
| Average time from the event occurred (days) | 702 | 717 | 709 |
| Average weekly adherence rates before the cost sharing change (%)* | |||
| Antiplatelet | 84.2 (1609) | 94.0 (7632) | 86.9 (533) |
| Beta-blockers | 88.5 (1543) | 94.9 (6943) | 90.4 (547) |
| ACEI/ARB | 90.7 (1349) | 95.1 (7198) | 92.0 (458) |
| Statins | 83.2 (1748) | 94.2 (7970) | 86.9 (611) |
*The number of patients on treatment with each therapeutic group is shown in parentheses. Patients on treatment are defined as those patients receiving one prescription within 3 months from the ACS event.
ACEI, ACE inhibitor; ACS, acute coronary syndrome; ARB, angiotensin II receptor blocker.