Prevalence of Adherence to Anti-hyperlipidemia Medication Among Adults in the Gulf Cooperation Council: A Narrative Scoping Review

Introduction: Hyperlipidemia, a silent asymptomatic disease, contributes significantly to cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and morbidity in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. One of the facets of preventing CVD endpoint is medication adherence to lipid-lowering drugs (LLDs). Accordingly, this scoping review aims to explore the adherence to anti-hyperlipidemia medications among adults in the Arabian Gulf region. Methods: Based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, a literature search was conducted in Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar to screen for articles published from 2013 to 2023 reporting adherence or compliance to LLDs among adults aged 18 years or above with or without any co-morbidities in the GCC region. The quality of the paper was assessed using the AXIS checklist. Discussion: The search yielded 139 articles, six meeting our inclusion criteria, all of which were cross-sectional. The researchers utilized varied measuring tools, resulting in heterogeneous results: good adherence in two studies, low adherence in three, and indefinite results in one. Younger age, polypharmacy, and female gender were the variables associated with higher drug noncompliance in one or more studies. Conclusion: There is a research gap on anti-hyperlipidemia medication adherence in the Arabian Gulf region which calls for further research, especially higher evidence studies as no attempts have been made beyond the cross-sectional design. Public health implications of the results may include awareness interventions and clinician-driven strategies to improve patient compliance.