Hydroxychloroquine blood levels predicts flare in childhood-onset lupus nephritis

Objective Low hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) blood levels are predictors of flare in adult lupus. Childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE) has high morbidity with renal involvement in up to 80% of cases. The aim of this study is to determine the HCQ cut-off levels which predicts flare in childhood-onset lupus nephritis (LN). Methods Sixty LN patients on HCQ use for at least 6-months were prospectively evaluated at baseline (BL) and about 6-months later for cSLE flare and HCQ blood levels (ng/mL) measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Results There were 19 patients (32%) with flare, during the study with median SLEDAI increase of 4 (0–8). Median (IQR) BL HCQ levels of the flare group were lower compared to stable patients [557.5 (68.6–980.3) vs. 1061.9 (534.8–1590.0 ng/mL); p=0.012]. ROC curve analysis demonstrated that HCQ levels≤1075 ng/mL were associated with a 5.08 (95%CI 1.28-20.13; p=0.021) times increased risk of flare. Six-month HCQ levels revealed that most patients 24/54 (44%) had persistently low levels (≤1075) during follow-up. Among those, 11/24 (46%) had flare. Multiple logistic regression analysis including prednisone use, baseline SLEDAI-2K, adherence based on pharmacy refill and BL HCQ blood levels as possible predictors of flare revealed that only HCQ blood level was independently associated with flare (OR 0.999, 95%CI 0.998-1.0, p=0.013). Conclusions We demonstrated that HCQ blood cut-off level under 1075 ng/mL predicts flare in childhood-onset LN patients under prescribed HCQ dose of 4.0–5.5 mg/kg/day. We further observed that most of these patients have compliance issues reinforcing the need for a close surveillance particularly in those with levels below the defined cut-off.

Pharmacist Intervention to Improve Medication Adherence in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome: The PRIMA-ACS Study

Background: Despite ample evidence of benefit, adherence to secondary prevention medication therapy after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is often suboptimal. Hospital pharmacists are uniquely positioned to improve adherence by providing medication education at discharge. Objective: To determine whether a standardized counselling intervention at hospital discharge significantly improved patients’ adherence to cardiovascular medications following ACS. Methods: This single-centre, prospective, nonrandomized comparative study enrolled patients with a primary diagnosis of ACS (January 2014 to July 2015). Patients who received standardized discharge counselling from a clinical pharmacist were compared with patients who did not receive counselling. At 30 days and 1 year after discharge, follow-up patient surveys were conducted and community pharmacy refill data were obtained. Adherence was assessed using pharmacy refill data and patient self-reporting for 5 targeted medications: acetylsalicylic acid, P2Y purinoceptor 12 (P2Y12) inhibitors, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers, β-blockers, and statins. Thirty-day and 1-year medication utilization, cardiovascular readmission rates, and all-cause mortality were also assessed. Results: Of the 259 patients enrolled, 88 (34.0%) received discharge counselling. Medication data were obtained for 253 patients (97.7%) at 30 days and 242 patients (93.4%) at 1 year. At 1 year after discharge, there were no statistically significant differences between patients who did and did not receive counselling in terms of rates of nonadherence (11.9% versus 18.4%, p = 0.19), cardiovascular readmission (17.6% versus 22.3%, p = 0.42), and all-cause mortality (3.4% versus 4.2%, p > 0.99). Overall medication nonadherence was 2.8% (7/253) at 30 days and 16.1% (39/242) at 1 year. Conclusions: Discharge medication counselling provided by hospital pharmacists after ACS was not associated with significantly better medication adherence at 1 year. Higher-quality evidence is needed to determine the most effective and practical interventions to ensure that patients adhere to their medication regimens and achieve positive outcomes after ACS. RÉSUMÉ Contexte : Malgré l’abondance de preuves démontrant ses avantages, l’adhésion à la pharmacothérapie de prévention secondaire après les syndromes coronariens aigus (SCA) est souvent « sous-optimale ». Les pharmaciens d’hôpitaux occupent une place unique pour améliorer l’adhésion en expliquant au patient l’usage des médicaments au moment du congé hospitalier. Objectif : Déterminer si une consultation standardisée au moment du congé hospitalier améliore significativement ou non l’adhésion à la pharmacothérapie cardiovasculaire après les SCA. Méthodes : Des patients ayant reçu un diagnostic primaire de SCA (de janvier 2014 à juillet 2015) ont été inscrits pour participer à cette étude comparative unicentrique prospective et non randomisée. Ceux ayant bénéficié d’une consultation standardisée par un pharmacien clinicien au moment du congé ont été comparés aux patients qui n’en n’avaient pas reçu. Trente jours et un an après le congé, des enquêtes de suivi du patient ont été menées et les données de renouvellement d’ordonnance des pharmacies communautaires ont été recueillies. L’adhésion a été évaluée à l’aide des données de renouvellement d’ordonnance et celles rapportées par le patient pour cinq médicaments ciblés : l’acide acétylsalicylique, les inhibiteurs P2Y purinoceptor 12 (P2Y12), les inhibiteurs de l’enzyme de conversion de l’angiotensine ou les antagonistes des récepteurs de l’angiotensine II, les antagonistes β et les statines. L’utilisation des médicaments à 30 jours et à un an, le taux de réadmission en raison d’un trouble cardiovasculaire et le taux de mortalité toutes causes confondues ont également fait l’objet d’une évaluation. Résultats : Sur les 259 patients inscrits, 88 (34 %) ont bénéficié d’une consultation au moment du congé. Des données concernant la médication de 253 patients ont été obtenues (97,7 %) à 30 jours et pour 242 patients (93,4 %) à un an. Un an après le congé, aucune différence statistique significative n’a été observée entre les patients ayant reçu ou non une consultation concernant la non-adhésion (11,9 % contre 18,4 %, p = 0,19), la réadmission en raison d’un trouble cardiovasculaire (17,6 % contre 22,3 %, p = 0,42), et le taux de mortalité toutes causes confondues (3,4 % contre 4,2 %, p > 0,99). La non-adhésion aux médicaments de manière générale se montait à 2,8 % (7/253) à 30 jours et à 16,1 % (39/242) à un an. Conclusions : La consultation concernant la médication donnée par les pharmaciens d’hôpitaux au moment du congé après les SCA n’était pas associée à un meilleur suivi de la médication un an plus tard. Des données probantes de meilleure qualité sont nécessaires pour déterminer les interventions les plus efficaces et pratiques pour que les patients adhèrent à leur régime médicamenteux et qu’ils obtiennent des résultats positifs après les SCA.

Multilevel of Factors Affected Optimal Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy and Viral Suppression Amongst HIV-infected Prisoners in South Ethiopia: A Prospective Cohort Study

ObjectivesMaintaining optimal adherence and viral suppression in people living with HIV (PLWHA) is essential to ensure both preventative and therapeutic benefits of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Prisoners bear a particularly high burden of HIV infection and are highly likely to transmit to others during and after incarceration. However, the level of treatment adherence and viral suppression in incarcerated populations in low-income countries is unknown. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of non-adherence and viral failure, and contributing factors amongst prisoners in South Ethiopia. MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted between June 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020 to compare the level of adherence and viral suppression between incarcerated and non-incarcerated PLWHA. The study involved 74 inmates living with HIV (ILWHA) and 296 non-incarcerated PLWHA. Background information (including sociodemographic, socioeconomic, psychosocial, behavioural, and incarceration related characteristics) was collected using a structured questionnaire. Adherence was determined based on the participants’ self-report and pharmacy refill records. Plasma viral load measurements undertaken within the study period were prospectively extracted to determine viral suppression. Univariate and multivariate regression models were used to analyse data. ResultsWhile prisoners had a significantly higher pharmacy refill adherence compared to non-incarcerated PLWHA (89% vs 75%), they had a slightly lower dose adherence (81% vs 83%). The prevalence of viral failure (VF) was also slightly higher (6%) in ILWHA compared to non-incarcerated PLWHA (4.4%). The overall dose non-adherence (NA) was significantly associated with missing ART appointments, level of satisfaction with ART services, patient’s ability to comply with a specified medication schedule and types of methods used to monitor the schedule. In ILWHA specifically, accessing ART services from a hospital compared to a health centre, an inability to always attend clinic appointments, experience of depression and a lack of social support predicted NA. VF was significantly higher in males, people of age 31to 35 years and in those who experienced social stigma, regardless of their incarceration status. ConclusionsThis study revealed that HIV-infected prisoners in South Ethiopia were more likely to be non-adherent to ART doses and to develop viral failure compared to their non-incarcerated counterparts. A multitude of factors were found to be responsible for this requiring multilevel intervention strategies focusing on the specific needs of prisoners.

P572 The influence of beliefs about medication in therapeutic adherence among patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Background Medication nonadherence in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is common and has a negative impact on disease outcome. It is currently not clear whether in patients with IBD, the opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards medicines determine an adequate therapeutic adherence. Our aim was to assess what the real influence of medication opinions is on IBD patients adherence. Methods Patients attending a tertiary hospital IBD outpatient clinic were enrolled. They filled the BMQ (Beliefs about Medication Questionnaire): a 18-item standardized scale assessing specific opinions about medication that a person is taking and beliefs about the potential for harm and overuse of medication in general. Pharmacy refill data were checked for the previous 3 months and their medication possession ratios (MPR) were calculated. Nonadherence was defined as MPR<0.8.Ethical approval was obtained. Results We analyzed 193 IBD patients: 96 women and 97 men with average age 46.1 years. Ulcerative colitis 109 (56.6%) and 84 Crohn′s disease (43.5%). Oral mesalazine was used for IBD control in 48%, immunosuppressnat in 43.5% and targeted therapies, 28.5%. MPR detected non-adherence in 57 patients (29.5%). Patients with CD had a higher adherence than those with UC (78.6 vs 64.2% p=0.03). Non-adherence was higher in patients with mesalazine 41.3% (p=0.001) and lower with targeted therapies 15% (p=0.007). BMQ classified our IBD patients in 60% “ambivalent”, 36% “accepting”, 7% “indifferent” with no “sceptical”: Females had a higher puntuation in BMQ harm about medication scale (p= 0.006). Surgical patients scored higher about the necessity of their IBD medication (0.005) and patients with a low educational level showed many concerns about IBD medication (0.002). Nevertheless there were neither significant differences in BMQ general (abuse/harm) or specific (need/concern) scores nor in attitude profiles between patients with adequate adherence and non-adherent patients. Conclusion Non-adherence behaviour in IBD patients was not associated with beliefs about medication. Ulcerative colitis and oral mesalazine were related to lower adherence, meanwhile patients on directed therapies showed high adherence,

Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Antihypertensive Medications Explain Variation in Pharmacy Refill and Self‐Reported Adherence Beyond Traditional Risk Factors: Potential Novel Mechanism Underlying Adherence

Background In pursuit of novel mechanisms underlying persistent low medication adherence rates, we assessed contributions of implicit and explicit attitudes, beyond traditional risk factors, in explaining variation in objective and subjective antihypertensive medication adherence. Methods and Results Implicit and explicit attitudes were assessed using the difference scores from the computer‐based Single Category Implicit Association Test and the Necessity and Concerns subscales of the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire, respectively. Antihypertensive medication adherence was measured using pharmacy refill proportion of days covered (PDC: mean PDC, low PDC <0.8) and the self‐report 4‐item Krousel‐Wood Medication Adherence Scale (K‐Wood‐MAS‐4: mean K‐Wood‐MAS‐4, low adherence via K‐Wood‐MAS‐4 ≥1). Hierarchical logistic and linear regression models controlled for traditional risk factors including social determinants of health, explicit, and implicit attitudes in a stepwise fashion. Community‐dwelling insured participants (n=85: 44.7% female; 20.0% Black; mean age, 62.3 years; 43.5% low PDC, and 31.8% low adherence via K‐Wood‐MAS‐4) had mean (SD) explicit and implicit attitude scores of 7.188 (5.683) and 0.035 (0.334), respectively. Low PDC was inversely associated with more positive explicit (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.87; 95% CI, 0.78–0.98; P =0.022) and implicit (aOR, 0.12; 95% CI, 0.02–0.80; P =0.029) attitudes, which accounted for an additional 8.6% ( P =0.016) and 6.5% ( P =0.029) of variation in low PDC, respectively. Lower mean K‐Wood‐MAS‐4 scores (better adherence) were associated only with more positive explicit attitudes (adjusted β, −0.04; 95% CI, −0.07 to −0.01; P =0.026); explicit attitudes explained an additional 5.6% ( P =0.023) of K‐Wood‐MAS‐4 variance. Conclusions Implicit and explicit attitudes explained significantly more variation in medication adherence beyond traditional risk factors, including social determinants of health, and should be explored as potential mechanisms underlying adherence behavior.

Real-life adherence in capecitabine therapy using two analysis methods and persistence after 6 months of treatment

Medication adherence in the field of Oncology is crucial in therapy management and can influence the probability of achieving and maintaining efficacy over time. We conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate adherence and persistence to oral therapy with Capecitabine, using two different calculation methods: therapy diary and indirect prescription refilling patterns. The main objective of the study was to compare the two methods of analysis and to propose a reliable adherence datum, yielded by the application of two complementary methodologies. We consequently set out to verify if data collected from therapy diaries can be superimposed to those gathered from prescription refilling patterns. Furthermore, we included data on patient-perceived quality in relation to Capecitabine therapy, as well as adverse reactions and their duration. Of 594 patients who used the study drug as of January 1, 2012, 45 completed their therapy diary. Adherence to treatment was 0.93 ± 0.10 and 0.84 ± 0.15, calculated using therapy diaries and pharmacy refill data, respectively. In terms of persistence, 53% of patients continued with treatment after six months of therapy. On a 1 to 5 scale, perceived quality was 3.31. In conclusion, when it comes to calculating adherence, it is important to preserve the objectivity of the method, which must be unencumbered by any conditioning. Regardless of the method, also considering what has already been discussed in the available literature, adherence in patients under treatment with Capecitabine, unlike persistence, is good.

Sex differences in the adherence of antihypertensive drugs: a systematic review with meta-analyses

ObjectivesPoor worldwide rate of blood pressure control is largely due to poor adherence to antihypertensive (AHT) drug treatment. The question of whether sex affects adherence has long been debated but conflicting findings have been reported on this issue. Our objective was to evaluate sex differences in the adherence to AHT therapy.Research design and methodsStudies were identified through a systematic search of PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Google Scholar (through January 2020) and manual handsearching of relevant articles. Observational studies reporting adherence to AHT drugs measured by self-report or pharmacy refill prescription-based methods among men and women were included. Summarised estimates of ORs with 95% CIs were calculated using random-effects model and meta-regression models.ResultsFrom 12 849 potentially relevant publications, 82 studies (15 517 457 men and 18 537 599 women) were included. No significant between-sex differences in adherence to AHT were observed, whether all study-specific estimates were summarised (ORs 1.04, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.09, p=0.07), nor estimates were pooled according to the method for measuring adherence. Among patients aged 65 years or older, lower self-reported adherence was observed in women (ORs 0.84, 95% CI 0.72 to 0.97, p=0.02), while the main result remained unchanged according to other subgroup analyses.ConclusionsDefinitive evidence of sex differences in adherence to AHT therapy cannot be drawn. Our little knowledge about factors affecting adherence, in particular of sex effect among elderly, urgently requires high-quality studies investigating these issues.

Examination of Transition Readiness, Medication Adherence, and Resilience in Pediatric Chronic Illness Populations: A Pilot Study

The present study assessed the relationship between resilience, adherence, and transition readiness in adolescents/young adults with chronic illness. Participants included 50 patients (Mean age, Mage = 17.3 ± 2.1 years) diagnosed with an oncology disorder (n = 7; 12.1%), hematology disorder (n = 5; 8.6%), nephrology disorder (n = 31; 53.4%), or rheumatology disorder (n = 7; 12.1%). Patients were administered questionnaires assessing resilience (Conner–Davidson Resilience Scale 25-item questionnaire, CD-RISC-25), transition readiness (Self-Management and Transition to Adulthood with Rx=Treatment, STARx), and self-reported medication adherence (Medication Adherence Module, MAM). Medical chart reviews were conducted to determine objective medication adherence rates based on pharmacy refill history (medication adherence ratios). A multivariate correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between resilience, transition readiness, and adherence. There was a moderate relationship (r = 0.34, p ≤ 0.05) between resilience (M = 74.67 ± 13.95) and transition readiness (M = 67.55 ± 8.20), such that more resilient patients reported increased readiness to transition to adult care. There also was a strong relationship (r = 0.80, p ≤ 0.01) between self-reported medication adherence (M = 86.27% ± 15.98) and pharmacy refill history (Mean Medication Adherence Ratio, MMAR = 0.75 ± 0.27), which indicated that self-reported adherence was consistent with prescription refill history across pediatric illness cohorts. Our findings underscore the importance of assessing resilience, transition readiness, and adherence years before transitioning pediatric patients to adult providers to ensure an easier transition to adult care.