Adherence to oral therapies in pelvic inflammatory disease.
OBJECTIVE
To assess adherence to oral therapies in pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).


METHODS
Medication adherence to oral doxycycline therapy (100 mg) was measured using electronic event monitoring (EEM) among adult women with PID. Subjects (n = 91), who were predominantly black and with a high school or lower educational attainment, were randomly selected from the Pelvic Inflammatory Disease Evaluation and Clinical Health (PEACH) Study, a trial in which subjects were randomized to either (1). initial inpatient then outpatient or (2). fully outpatient treatment with doxycycline and cefoxitin. Summary statistics calculated within treatment groups and in the cohort as a whole included the percentage of administrations taken, percentage of days with correct dosage, percentage of days with no drug taken, time elapsed until the first drug holiday, and percentage of optimal dosing intervals.


RESULTS
Study subjects took an average of 70% of prescribed doses, took the prescribed two daily doses for less than half of their outpatient days, took an unscheduled drug holiday for almost 25% of their outpatient days, and took only 16.9% of their doses within the optimal timing interval. In general, working, not bleeding with sex, and not drinking hard liquor were positively associated with measures of adherence. Adherence estimates were similar among women in the inpatient and outpatient groups after hospital discharge.


CONCLUSIONS
The disturbing rates of time interval adherence, even after hospitalization, suggest the need to determine the effectiveness of antibiotic regimens involving shorter courses and longer dosing intervals.
Dunbar-Jacob
Jacqueline
J
School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, USA.
Sereika
Susan M
SM
Foley
Susan M
SM
Bass
Debra C
DC
Ness
Roberta B
RB
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004318:Doxycycline / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000292:Pelvic Inflammatory Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016387:Women's Health
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004318:Doxycycline