OBJECTIVES: To describe patients' beliefs about medication six months after discharge for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and to determine the relationship between self-reported medication adherence and patients' medication beliefs. METHODS: All patients discharged with the diagnosis of ACS during a 6-month period from a university affiliated hospital were administered a telephone survey six months after discharge. The survey included the Belief About Medication Questionnaire (BMQ), the Morisky Adherence Scale (MAS), and items about patient demographics, social support, number of medications, and health status. The BMQ has 18 items that generate four scales: Specific-Necessity (SN), Specific-Concerns (SC), General-Harm (GH), and General-Overuse (GO). The MAS is a 4-item scale providing a single score. Both questionnaires use five response options per item. Lower BMQ-scale scores indicate stronger beliefs. Lower MAS scores indicate better adherence. Correlation between independent variables and MAS were conducted using Pearson's rho; Student's t-test was used for bivariate analyses. A p<0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: To date, 25 patients have been interviewed (goal of 75). The mean age was 63.4 (+12.6) years with 67% male, 92% Caucasian, 56% with some or more college education, 76% lived with 1 other person, and 40% indicated excellent or very good health. The mean BMQ scale scores were: SN=2.4 (+0.8), SC=3.2 (+0.7), GO=3.3 (+0.7), and GH=3.8 (+0.4). The mean MAS was 1.3(+0.4), with 59.1% indicating nonadherence (score>1). The BMQ-SN was significantly correlated with the MAS (r=0.47, p=0.03). The BMQ-GH (r=-0.3, p=0.18) and social support (r=0.4, p=0.058) trended toward significant association. Bivariate analyses showed no significant association between independent variables and the MAS, but trends were noted with the same independent variables. CONCLUSION: Patients with stronger belief of the necessity of medication and strong social support report higher adherence with cardiac medication. They did not think medications were overused or harmful. Determining beliefs about medication may be helpful in developing interventions aimed at improving adherence.