title: White coat adherence over the first year of therapy in pediatric epilepsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine white coat adherence over time in children with epilepsy.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a longitudinal prospective study to examine medication adherence prior to and following consecutive clinic visits over a 13-month period in 120 children with newly diagnosed epilepsy (M(age) = 7.2 ± 2.9 years; 38% female) and their caregivers. Electronic monitors were used to assess adherence and ordinal logistic regression models were employed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results demonstrated white coat adherence, with adherence increasing during the 3 days preceding clinic visits. Data also revealed a significant interaction, whereby adherence increased following initial clinic visits, but decreased following the last clinic visit.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  White coat adherence occurs for children with newly diagnosed epilepsy. Increased awareness of white coat adherence has important implications for clinical decision-making and should be examined in other pediatric populations. Increased monitoring of medication patterns can help clinicians avoid unnecessary changes to the treatment regimen. Interventions targeting improved communication around adherence behaviors are necessary to maximize therapy benefits.
authors.affiliation: Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA. avani.modi@cchmc.org
authors.forename: Avani C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Modi
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Ingerski
authors.forename: Joseph R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Rausch
authors.forename: Tracy A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Glauser
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Drotar
mesh_terms: D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009819:Office Visits; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants