Time Variability of Pain Medication Adherence: An Observational Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcia Shade ◽  
Kyle Rector ◽  
Kevin Kupzyk

BACKGROUND Pain is difficult to manage in older adults. Pain management in older adults has been recommended to include both nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic strategies. Unfortunately, nonadherence to pain medication is more prevalent than any other chronic disease treatment. Technology-based reminders have some benefit for medication adherence but is biased because behavior has been verified by self-report. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to describe objective medication adherence and latency of medication use in a subsample of older adults that used a voice assistant reminder to take scheduled pain medications. METHODS This observational feasibility study was conducted in the homes of community-dwelling older adults. Of the 15 older adults using voice assistant reminders for pain medications, we randomly selected a subsample of participants to use a medication event monitoring system to observe medication adherence. We collected demographics, self-reported health history, and pain medication name, dose, and dose frequency. Baseline data were collected on pain severity and interference using the Brief Pain Inventory-SF; concern and necessity beliefs about pain medications using the Beliefs About Medicines Questionnaire; self-confidence in managing pain with the PROMIS Self-Efficacy for Managing Symptoms and medication adherence with a Medication Event Monitoring System. RESULTS Participants used pain medications to alleviate pain severity ranging from moderate to severe. Each participant had varying beliefs about pain medicines and self-efficacy in managing pain symptoms. Overall latency was 55 minutes. The absolute latency (before or after reminder) varied among the participants; the shortest average time was 17 minutes and the longest was 4.5 hours. Our results found that 15% of the pain medications were taken within 5 minutes over 60% were taken within 30 minutes. CONCLUSIONS Voice assistant reminders may help cue patients to take medications, but the timing of use may vary. It may be helpful to monitor the absolute timing of scheduled medication use as a part of medication adherence behaviors in older adults especially when frequent dosing is prescribed. CLINICALTRIAL Adherence, Pain Medications, Older Adults, Reminders, mHealth, Voice Assistants

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcia Shade ◽  
Kyle Rector ◽  
Kevin Kupzyk

BACKGROUND Pain is difficult to manage in older adults. It has been recommended that pain management in older adults should include both nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic strategies. Unfortunately, nonadherence to pain medication is more prevalent than nonadherence to any other chronic disease treatment. Technology-based reminders have some benefit for medication adherence, but adherence behavior outcomes have mostly been verified by self-reports. OBJECTIVE We aimed to describe objective medication adherence and the latency of medication use after a voice assistant reminder prompted participants to take pain medications for chronic pain. METHODS A total of 15 older adults created a voice assistant reminder for taking scheduled pain medications. A subsample of 5 participants were randomly selected to participate in a feasibility study, in which a medication event monitoring system for pain medications was used to validate medication adherence as a health outcome. Data on the subsample’s self-assessed pain intensity, pain interference, concerns and necessity beliefs about pain medications, self-confidence in managing pain, and medication implementation adherence were analyzed. RESULTS In the 5 participants who used the medication event monitoring system, the overall latency between voice assistant reminder deployment and the medication event (ie, medication bottle cap opening) was 55 minutes. The absolute latency (before or after the reminder) varied among the participants. The shortest average time taken to open the cap after the reminder was 17 minutes, and the longest was 4.5 hours. Of the 168 voice assistant reminders for scheduled pain medications, 25 (14.6%) resulted in the opening of MEMS caps within 5 minutes of the reminder, and 107 (63.7%) resulted in the opening of MEMS caps within 30 minutes of the reminder. CONCLUSIONS Voice assistant reminders may help cue patients to take scheduled medications, but the timing of medication use may vary. The timing of medication use may influence treatment effectiveness. Tracking the absolute latency time of medication use may be a helpful method for assessing medication adherence. Medication event monitoring may provide additional insight into medication implementation adherence during the implementation of mobile health interventions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S926-S926
Author(s):  
Marcia Shade ◽  
Kyle Rector ◽  
Kevin Kupzyk

Abstract Adherence to analgesics needs to be monitored to ensure optimal pain management and avert adverse events among older adults. mHealth reminders may encourage adherence behavior, but it is unclear if medication use ensues following the reminder. The purpose of this study was to trial the use of medication event monitoring to verify the initiation of scheduled pain medication after an mHealth reminder. Methods: N=15 adults 55 and older created Google Assistant reminders to take their scheduled pain medication and write in a pain diary. A sub sample of n= 5 participants used a Medication Event Monitoring System Cap with their scheduled pain medications over 4 weeks. Data were collected on demographics, pain severity, and medication adherence. Descriptive statistics were performed. Results: Five women with ages ranging from 56-80 years, reported pain in multiple body locations. Pain severity on average was rated at 4 and at its worst 7; with pain relief ranging from 50-90%. Adherence percentages ranged from 82% to 100%. The overall latency was M = 55 min, SD = 100 min. The average latencies varied among the 5 participants; the shortest average time was 17 minutes and the longest average time was 4.5 hours. Only 15% of pain medications were taken within 5 minutes and 64% within 30 minutes of the interactive voice assistant reminder. Conclusions: It is important to ensure a behavioral intervention promotes the desired outcome. Medication event monitoring systems may help to identify non adherent behaviors when using mHealth interventions to promote pain medication adherence.


2021 ◽  
Vol 92 (5) ◽  
pp. 519-527
Author(s):  
Yasmina Molero ◽  
David James Sharp ◽  
Brian Matthew D'Onofrio ◽  
Henrik Larsson ◽  
Seena Fazel

ObjectiveTo examine psychotropic and pain medication use in a population-based cohort of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI), and compare them with controls from similar backgrounds.MethodsWe assessed Swedish nationwide registers to include all individuals diagnosed with incident TBI between 2006 and 2012 in hospitals or specialist outpatient care. Full siblings never diagnosed with TBI acted as controls. We examined dispensed prescriptions for psychotropic and pain medications for the 12 months before and after the TBI.ResultsWe identified 239 425 individuals with incident TBI, and 199 658 unaffected sibling controls. In the TBI cohort, 36.6% had collected at least one prescription for a psychotropic or pain medication in the 12 months before the TBI. In the 12 months after, medication use increased to 45.0%, an absolute rate increase of 8.4% (p<0.001). The largest post-TBI increases were found for opioids (from 16.3% to 21.6%, p<0.001), and non-opioid pain medications (from 20.3% to 26.6%, p<0.001). The majority of prescriptions were short-term; 20.6% of those prescribed opioids and 37.3% of those with benzodiazepines collected prescriptions for more than 6 months. Increased odds of any psychotropic or pain medication were associated with individuals before (OR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.59 to 1.65), and after the TBI (OR: 2.30, 95% CI: 2.26 to 2.34) as compared with sibling controls, and ORs were consistently increased for all medication classes.ConclusionHigh rates of psychotropic and pain medications after a TBI suggest that medical follow-up should be routine and review medication use.


2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 313-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. W. Nieuwenhuis ◽  
T. Jaarsma ◽  
D. J. van Veldhuisen ◽  
M. H. L. van der Wal

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S273-S274
Author(s):  
Niti Shahi ◽  
Maxene Meier ◽  
Ryan Phillips ◽  
Gabrielle Shirek ◽  
Ashley Banks ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Childhood burns are extremely common and distressing for children and their parents. Pain is the most common complaint and often thought to be undertreated, disrupting care and increasing the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder. There is limited literature on the role of opioids and multimodal therapy in the treatment of burns in pediatric patients. We sought to evaluate the current use of multimodal therapy as well as the use, storage, and disposal of opioids in this patient population. Methods We prospectively surveyed parents of pediatric burn patients (0–18 years old) who presented to the burn clinic within two weeks of burn injury. Parents were surveyed regarding over-the-counter pain medication use and opioid medication use, storage, and disposal in the treatment of their child. Medians and interquartile ranges were used to describe continuous variables and frequencies and percentages were used for categorical variables. Results A total of 92 parents of burn-injured children were surveyed at a single institution in the outpatient burn clinic. The median age of burn-injured children was 3.1 years old, and 50% of patients were male. The majority had a TBSA of 1%. The hand was the most frequently burned location (45.7%). Acetaminophen (58.7%) and ibuprofen (69.6%) were the most common treatments for both constant and breakthrough pain. Approximately 28% (26/92) of patients were prescribed opioids, of which 18.5% (17/92) filled their prescription. Only 29% of patients (5/17) consumed their entire prescription, and a median of 3 doses of opioids remained for those who did not finish the entire prescription. Parents most commonly decided to give their children opioid pain medications because “my child is in severe pain” or “I give my child pain medications as scheduled (written on prescription).” Approximately 40% (7/17) of patients who filled opioid prescriptions stored them in a locked area, and only 35.3% (6/17) were educated on how to dispose of excess opioid pain medication. Conclusions Presently, multimodal therapy with over-the-counter pain medications is used to treat the majority of pediatric burns. This study demonstrates an increased need for education on opioid administration, storage, and disposal for parents of burn-injured children. Applicability of Research to Practice We aimed to evaluate what current trends in opioid use are in pediatric burn patients and areas for improvement in parent education for over-the-counter pain medication use, opioid use, opioid storage, and disposal. From the study, we were able to glean that the majority of patients are successfully managed with over-the-counter pain medications. However, parents and patients managed with opioids need additional education on appropriate administration of opioid pain medications, safe locked storage of opioids, and opioid disposal. This demonstrates an area for quality improvement inpatient and outpatient.


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