Objective To understand the use and its influencing factors of secondary prevention drugs among patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (CVDs) in East China from 2014 to 2019, thus providing a basis for the improving medication adherence of secondary prevention drugs among these patients.

Methods Data were collected from 19 992 patients with CVDs who aged 35–75 years and used secondary prevention drugs in the China Patient-Centered Evaluative Assessment of Cardiac Events Million Persons Project (China PEACE MPP) from September 2014 to November 2019 across 57 counties/districts in seven provincial-level administrative regions (Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, and Shandong) in East China. Multivariate mixed models were employed with community-specific random intercepts to analyze the associations of individual characteristics with the reported use of secondary prevention drugs.

Results Among the 19 992 patients with CVDs reported in East China from 2014 to 2019, 4 435 (22.18%) patients used antiplatelets or statins. Among them, 3 671 (18.36%) and 2 181 (10.91%) patients used antiplatelets and statins, respectively, and 1 417 cases (7.09%) used both types of drugs. The results of the multivariate mixed model analysis showed that the patients with CVDs who had educational background of junior high school or above, hypertension history, dyslipidemia history, overweight or obesity were more likely to report taking secondary prevention drugs. Female patients, current smokers, and those diagnosed with CVDs for more than 7 years were less likely to report taking secondary prevention drugs.

Conclusions The use of secondary prevention drugs among the patients with CVDs was suboptimal in East China from 2014 to 2019. Gender, educational background, history of hypertension and dyslipidemia, current smoking status, body mass index, and time from diagnosis of CVDs are the main influencing factors for the use of secondary prevention drugs among the patients in East China.