Of 88 eligible patients, 66 (75%) completed the survey. Noncompliance with antiplatelet and/or statin therapy occurred in 24.2% (n=16), while 19.7% (n=13) were lost to follow-up. Reported reasons for noncompliance included belief medication was not necessary (25%), side effects without physician input (18.7%), physician-advised discontinuation (18.7%), and forgetfulness (12.5%). Among those lost to follow-up, 76.9% felt follow-up was not necessary and 23.1% cited insurance barriers. Regarding understanding, 10.6% disagreed and 22.7% somewhat agreed with “I understand my diagnosis of TIA.” For medication rationale, 21.1% somewhat agreed and none disagreed with “I understand the rationale for prescribed stroke prevention medications.”  

Medication-compliant patients were likely to attend outpatient follow-up (OR 6.17; 95% CI: 1.56–24.42; p<0.005), while other demographic data and cardiovascular risk factors were not significantly associated with compliance.