Adherence in a remote diabetes trial varied with participant characteristics
An ASCEND analysis examined who consistently followed assigned treatment, using mailed follow-up forms and records of treatment supply.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Women, smokers and participants with greater frailty, deprivation or higher vascular risk scores were less likely to fully follow assigned treatment. These associations came from a trial using postal follow-up. They highlight differences in participation that deserve investigation, but do not explain the barriers involved or establish what would improve adherence.
This abstract-based account cannot establish why participants did not fully adhere. Adherence was estimated from mailed forms and treatment supplies; the abstract does not explain how those measures captured actual medication use.
What researchers found
Participants fully adhering to assigned aspirin or placebo
Women versus men, assessed while participants remained at risk for a serious vascular event; total follow-up duration was not reported.
What adherence meant here
The study tracked adherence in separate aspirin and omega-3 allocations, each including placebo. It assessed whether participants fully followed their assigned regimen while they remained at risk for a serious vascular event.
Associations cannot explain causes
The analysis compared characteristics such as sex, frailty and smoking status that were not randomly assigned. These patterns cannot establish the causes of incomplete adherence or whether changing any particular factor would help participants follow treatment.
The original publication
Factors associated with adherence to allocated treatment in the ASCEND trial: a mail-based randomised trial of aspirin and of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in people with diabetes.
Madurasinghe VW, Mafham M, Buck G et al.
Trials · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41749263
- Record checked
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