A study published in Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders aimed to identify predictors related to adherence to disease modifying therapies (DMTs) in a population of Argentinian multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.
Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study of the National Medical Care Program from Argentina. Patients with MS and at least one claim for a DMT between January 2017 to October 2017 were identified. They performed telephone surveys to discern clinical and demographic factors. The medication possession ratio (MPR) was used to assess adherence, and logistic regression model to analyze associations. In total, 648 patients (60% women; mean age, 55) were included in the analysis.
In the study population, about 85% of patients were receiving DMT at the time of the survey, with over 60% receiving injectable therapies. Optimal adherence was observed in 47.7% of patients. Oral medication use was associated with adherence (odds ratio=1.83, 95% confidence interval 1.13-3.00, P=0.014), and higher educational levels were associated with oral drug use was higher educational level (odds ratio=2.86, 95%CI 1.41-5.81, P=0.004), the researchers noted.
Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34630632/
Keywords: adherence; disease-modifying therapies; multiple sclerosis; persistence; predictors
