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Background: Suboptimal adherence reduces the effectiveness of antihypertensive therapy and is recognised as a significant obstacle in achieving better patient outcomes. The impact of concomitant therapy on adherence levels is unknown. The aim of this study was to identify changes in antihypertensive drug adherence after antibiotic treatment.

Methods: We analysed refill prescriptions (2004-2013) from 361,021 patients who attended 2 hospitals in Glasgow. Antihypertensive drug adherence over the preceding and following 12 months of first antibiotic therapy in each patient were analysed. Drug adherence was measured as drug usage over the study period and calculated from the amount of drug dispensed and the defined daily dose for each antihypertensive drug. Comparisons were made using paired-t tests.

Results: There were 190,699 subjects prescribed amoxicillin, 63,292 ciprofloxacin, 69,756 …