Non-adherence to Disease-Modifying Treatments in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating disease of the central nervous system. Usually, long-term MS medications are injected intramuscularly or subcutaneously, making them intolerable for many MS patients. Objectives:In the present study, the rate and the causes of non-adherence to MS disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) were assessed in patients with MS. Materials and Methods:Two hundred and three MS patients of Guilan MS Society were interviewed demographic and clinical data of the patients were collected. Results:Among the 203 patients, 73.9% were female. The mean±SD age of the patients was 32.47±9.15. Non-adherence to DMDs was due to side effects (21.7%) and requests of the families (21.7%) or ineffectiveness (17.4%). Significant association was seen between the non-adherence to DMDs and gender (p=0.015) and relapses (p=0.021). Conclusion:The evidence from the present study suggests that there is a high rate of non-adherence to DMDs in MS patients in Guilan. Keywords: Multiple Sclerosis; Medication Adherence Bullet points: Disease-modifying drugs are somehow intolerable for patients with MS. A high rate of nonadherence to DMDs in MS patients was demonstrated.

Multiple sclerosis patients and e-health system in Saudi Arabia

“…Another similar result was reported by Roudbary et al (2017), who stated that the using state of DMDs was not significantly associated with age ( p = 0.43), educational level ( p = 0.31) and disease duration ( p = 0.142). In contrary to our findings, Roudbary et al (2017) reported a significant association between non-adherence to DMDs and gender ( p = 0.015). While in a study carried out by Alhazzani et al (2019) who found that patients’ adherence differed according to their educational level ( p < 0.001), higher adherence is associated with patients’ higher education.…”

“…There is a wide range of reasons because of which the treatment recommendations are not followed by MS patients (McKay et al , 2017; Wicks et al , 2011). The occurrence of side effects (Arroyo et al , 2010; Beer et al , 2011; Devonshire et al , 2011), the lack of effectiveness of therapy (Roudbary et al , 2017) and the missing the dose of the drug/forgetfulness (Arroyo et al , 2010; Devonshire et al , 2011; Di Battista et al , 2014) are some of the factors associated with non-adherence of medication in MS. An important role is also played by the duration of therapy in the non-adherence of medication in MS (Di Battista et al , 2014). It has been reported by studies that treatment recommendations are only followed by 30–40% of patients till two years after the initiation of therapy (Di Battista et al , 2014; Evans et al , 2016).…”

Mitochondrial DNA G15927A and G15928A variations in patients with multiple sclerosis

“…Neuroimaging such as magnetic resonance imaging (Barkhof et al, 1997) is necessary for diagnosis of MS, while lumbar puncture (Gajofatto et al, 2013), evoked potential analysis (Parisi et al, 1998) and optic coherence tomography (Talebi et al, 2013) provide additional information. On the basis of the course of the disease, MS is divided into several subtypes (Roudbary et al, 2017), of which the relapsing-remitting form is the most frequent. Inflammatory processes contribute to MS as well as neurodegeneration (Andalib, Sasan et al, 2017b).…”

Adherence to Medications among Outpatient Adults with Multiple Sclerosis in Medina Province in Ksa (Cross-Sectional Study)

“…However, research has shown that long-term adherence to DMT represents a significant challenge for patients with MS 7 . Barriers to treatment adherence in MS patients include the chronic nature of MS, fear of injection and adverse events, perceived lack of efficacy, treatment fatigue, drug type, and health system factors [4][5][6][7][8] . Non-adherence behavior is not only costly in terms of time, money, and resources; it can also threaten the relation between doctor and patient.…”