The use of adherence aids by adults with diabetes: A cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND: Adherence with medication taking is a major barrier to physiologic control in diabetes and many strategies for improving adherence are in use. We sought to describe the use of mnemonic devices and other adherence aids by adults with diabetes and to investigate their association with control of hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia and hypertension. METHODS: Cross sectional survey of diabetic adults randomly selected from Primary Care practices in the Vermont Diabetes Information System. We used linear regression to examine the associations between the use of various aids and physiologic control among subjects who used oral agents for hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension. RESULTS: 289 subjects (mean age 65.4 years; 51% female) used medications for all three conditions. Adherence aids were reported by 80%. The most popular were day-of-the-week pill boxes (50%), putting the pills in a special place (41%), and associating pill taking with a daily event such as a meal, TV show, or bedtime (11%). After adjusting for age, sex, marital status, income, and education, those who used a special place had better glycemic control (A1C -0.36%; P = .04) and systolic blood pressure (-5.9 mm Hg; P = .05) than those who used no aids. Those who used a daily event had better A1C (-0.56%; P = .01) than patients who used no aids. CONCLUSION: Although adherence aids are in common use among adults with diabetes, there is little evidence that they are efficacious. In this study, we found a few statistically significant associations with adherence aids and better diabetes control. However, these findings could be attributed to multiple comparisons or unmeasured confounders. Until more rigorous evaluations are available, it seems reasonable to recommend keeping medicines in a special place for diabetic adults prescribed multiple medications

Improving medication adherence in diabetes type 2 patients through Real Time Medication Monitoring: a Randomised Controlled Trial to evaluate the effect of monitoring patients' medication use combined with short message service (SMS) reminders

Contains fulltext : 97026.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Innovative approaches are needed to support patients' adherence to drug therapy. The Real Time Medication Monitoring (RTMM) system offers real time monitoring of patients' medication use combined with short message service (SMS) reminders if patients forget to take their medication. This combination of monitoring and tailored reminders provides opportunities to improve adherence. This article describes the design of an intervention study aimed at evaluating the effect of RTMM on adherence to oral antidiabetics. METHODS/DESIGN: Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) with two intervention arms and one control arm involving diabetes type 2 patients with suboptimal levels of adherence to oral antidiabetics (less than 80% based on pharmacy refill data). Patients in the first intervention arm use RTMM including SMS reminders and a personal webpage where they can monitor their medication use. Patients in the second intervention arm use RTMM without SMS reminders or webpage access. Patients in the control arm are not exposed to any intervention. Patients are randomly assigned to one of the three arms. The intervention lasts for six months. Pharmacy refill data of all patients are available from 11 months before, until 11 months after the start of the intervention. Primary outcome measure is adherence to oral antidiabetics calculated from: 1) data collected with RTMM, as a percentage of medication taken as prescribed, and as percentage of medication taken within the correct time interval, 2) refill data, taking the number of days for which oral antidiabetics are dispensed during the study period divided by the total number of days of the study period. Differences in adherence between the intervention groups and control group are studied using refill data. Differences in adherence between the two intervention groups are studied using RTMM data. DISCUSSION: The intervention described in this article consists of providing RTMM to patients with suboptimal adherence levels. This system combines real time monitoring of medication use with SMS reminders if medication is forgotten. If RTMM proves to be effective, it can be considered for use in various patient populations to support patients with their medication use and improve their adherence. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Netherlands Trial Register NTR1882

Factors related to patient adherence to antidiabetic drug therapy Factores relacionados a la adhesión del paciente diabético a la terapéutica medicamentosa Fatores relacionados à adesão do paciente diabético à terapêutica medicamentosa

The objective of the present study was to assess patient adherence to antidiabetic drug therapy and its association with factors related to the patient, patient-provider relationship, therapeutic regimen and the disease itself. The study comprised 46 diabetic patients enrolled in a research and extension education center in the State of Sao Paulo, southeastern Brazil, in 2007. Data was collected through interviews using a questionnaire and the Treatment Adherence Measure (TAM). The patient adherence level to antidiabetic drug therapy was 78.3%. In conclusion, since prevalence of adherence is below that recommended in the literature, and in the light of poor blood glucose control and alleged failure of therapeutic regimen, health providers are urged to measure diabetic patient treatment adherence, because it is key to adequate diabetes management with drugs.<br>Este estudio tuvo el objetivo de determinar la adhesión del paciente diabético a la terapéutica medicamentosa y verificar la asociación de la adhesión con factores relacionados al paciente, a la relación profesional-paciente, al esquema terapéutico y a la enfermedad. Participaron 46 diabéticos registrados en un centro de investigación y extensión universitaria en el interior del Estado de San Pablo, en 2007. Los datos fueron obtenidos mediante entrevista, utilizándose un cuestionario y la prueba de Medida de Adhesión al Tratamiento - MAT. Los resultados mostraron que la adhesión del paciente diabético al tratamiento medicamentoso para tratamiento de la diabetes fue de 78,3%. Se concluye que, al considerar que la prevalencia de la adhesión obtenida en el presente estudio estuvo por debajo de la recomendada en la literatura y frente a la vigencia del mal control de la glucemia y de la supuesta falencia en el esquema terapéutico, se urgente que los profesionales de la salud reconozcan la importancia de evaluar la adhesión de los pacientes diabéticos, al tratamiento medicamentoso para controlar la diabetes.<br>Este estudo teve o objetivo de determinar a adesão do paciente diabético à terapêutica medicamentosa e verificar a associação da adesão, segundo os fatores referentes ao paciente, ao relacionamento profissional-paciente, ao esquema terapêutico e à doença. Participaram 46 diabéticos cadastrados em um centro de pesquisa e extensão universitária no interior do Estado de São Paulo, em 2007. Os dados foram obtidos mediante entrevista, utilizando-se questionário e o teste de Medida de Adesão ao Tratamento - MAT. Os resultados mostraram que a adesão do paciente diabético ao tratamento medicamentoso para o diabetes foi de 78,3%. Conclui-se que, ao se considerar que a prevalência da adesão obtida no presente estudo está abaixo daquela recomendada na literatura, se torna urgente reconhecer a importância da mensuração da adesão dos pacientes diabéticos em tratamento medicamentoso, para o controle do diabetes pelos profissionais de saúde, na vigência de mau controle glicêmico e de suposta falência no esquema terapêutico

Pharmacoeconomic aspects of poor adherence: can better adherence reduce healthcare costs?

Background: Poor adherence to medical treatment is one of the main reasons why patients do not achieve the full benefits of their therapy. It also has a substantial financial weight in terms of money wasted for unused medication and increased healthcare costs including hospitalization due to clinical complications. Objective: To provide an overview and examples of the financial and economic consequences of poor adherence to treatment, techniques and devices for monitoring adherence and interventions for improvement of treatment adherence. Results: New electronic devices with monitoring features may help to objectively monitor patients' adherence to a treatment regimen that can help a healthcare professional determine how to intervene to improve adherence and subsequent clinical outcome. Interventions that aim to enhance adherence may confer costeffectiveness benefits in some indications and settings. The nature of the intervention(s) used depends on a range of factors, including patient preference, therapy area and cost of the intervention. However, there is a pressing need for rigorous trials, as current studies often have major flaws in the economic methodology, especially in terms of incremental analysis and sensitivity analysis. Limitations: This review has focused on a limited number of therapeutic areas as coverage of a more extensive range of diseases may be beyond the scope of such a summary. Nevertheless, the examples are representative of the challenges encountered in many other diseases. Conclusions: The clinical and economic consequences of non-adherence and interventions to improve compliance reflect the nature and severity of non-adherence, as well as the pathophysiology and severity of the disease. Interventions that aim to enhance adherence may confer cost-effectiveness benefits in some indications and settings, and good adherence can help payers and providers contain costs by extracting maximum value from their investment in therapies

Visual search with animal fear-relevant stimuli: A tale of two procedures

The present study assessed preferential attentional processing of animal fear-relevant stimuli in two procedures, Search and Interference tasks, which have been suggested to reflect on attentional capture due to the fear-relevance of the stimuli presented. In the Search task, participants (N = 154) searched fear-relevant (i.e., snakes and spiders) and non fear-relevant (i.e., fish and birds) backgrounds to determine the presence or absence of a deviant animal from the opposite category. In the Interference task, the same participants searched for the presence or absence of a neutral target (a cat) when either a snake, spider or no distracter were embedded amongst backgrounds of other animal stimuli. Replicating previous findings, preferential attentional processing of animal fear-relevant stimuli was evident in both procedures and participants who specifically feared one animal but not the other showed enhanced preferential processing of their feared fear-relevant animal. However, across the entire sample, there was no relationship between self-reported levels of animal fear and preferential processing which may reflect on the fact that substantial preferential attentional processing of fear-relevant animals was evident in the entire sample. Also, preferential attentional processing as assessed in the two tasks was not related. Delayed disengagement from fear-relevant stimuli appeared to underlie performance in the search task but not in the interference task