Limited insurance coverage or high copayments, particularly for brand-name drugs, may also keep some cost-conscious patients from filling prescriptions, Baroletti, who wasn’t involved in the study, told Reuters Health by email.

Psychological factors might dissuade other patients, particularly if they are depressed or suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder from the heart attack, said Ian Kronish, MD, a researcher at the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health at Columbia University Medical Center in New York who wasn’t involved in the study.

“For these patients, the very medicines that can best reduce their chances of another heart attack may serve as unwanted reminders of the heart attack, and may lead some patients to skip their medications,” Dr. Kronish said in an email.

Certainly, no two patients are the same in how they decide whether or not to take all the pills doctors prescribe, said Marie Brown, MD, a researcher at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago who wasn’t involved in the study.

“A typical non-adherent personality does not exist,” she said by email. “The take home message for patients is to be sure to ask why they need the medicine and what will happen if they don’t take it.”

Reference

1. Mathews R, Peterson ED, Honeycutt E, et al. Early medication nonadherence after acute myocardial infarction: insights into actionable opportunities from the treatment with ADP receptor inhibitors: Longitudinal Assessment of Treatment Patterns and Events After Acute Coronary Syndrome Study. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2015 Jun 2. [Epub ahead of print]