ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Only 68 percent of corporate executives took their cholesterol lowering medication as prescribed by a doctor, a new study shows.

Overall, the executives who took their medication even sporadically were twice as likely to meet their cholesterol goals. The study finding also questions the prevailing wisdom that income is a primary factor in medication adherence.

University of Michigan researchers studied 1,607 executive level managers at a major financial institution from 1995 to 2004, said Alyssa Schultz, health science research associate at the U-M School of Kinesiology Health Management Research Center, and one of the study authors.

This paper appeared Feb. 24 in Population Health Management. Co-authors include Dee Edington Ph.D. and Chin-Yu Chen, both of the HMRC, and Dr. Wayne N. Burton.