Improving treatment adherence in patients with rheumatologic disease.
Further evaluation of reasons for treatment nonadherence in patients with rheumatologic disease is key in the development of successful interventions. Patient education efforts alone are not sufficient to improve adherence; complex interventions are most effective. Because most rheumatologic diseases require lifetime therapy, the consequences of nonadherence can be deleterious. Several direct and indirect methods have been proposed to measure adherence. Pharmacy claims data have been used frequently in studying rheumatologic disease; electronic monitoring provides an accurate measure. Adherence is mediated through constructs of the patient-physician relationship.
Ms Achaval is senior coordinator of clinical trials, and Dr Suarez-Almazor is professor in the department of general internal medicine, ambulatory treatment, and emergency care at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Dr Suarez-Almazor has a K24 career award from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and is director and principal investigator of the Houston CERT, one of the Centers for Education & Research on Therapeutics, a multicenter research program funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. She has received honoraria as a speaker from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Roche, and Amgen.
Sofia
S
de Achaval
Maria E
ME
Suarez-Almazor