In Australia, someone suffers a stroke every 19 minutes and it is one of Australia's biggest killers. In addition, nearly half of all survivors of stroke are expected to experience a recurrent cardiovascular event within 10 years. Specific medications help to prevent this long-term risk, but adherence to these agents is often suboptimal among patients.

The study, published in Stroke, demonstrates the importance of medication adherence after stroke to maximize survival, even for patients with near-perfect medication adherence. These findings are in support of targeted initiatives to maximize medication adherence after stroke/TIA, such as implementation of medication reminder systems, mobile health technologies, increased follow-up by clinicians or complex behavior change programs.

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