OHP-025 Drug Information and the Use of a Pillbox to Improve Satisfaction of Patients Treated with Temozolomide

Abstract

Background Compliance is sometimes difficult for patients treated with temozolomide, because of the inconvenience due to the high daily number of capsules needed. Studies with other drugs showed that pillboxes increased patient satisfaction. Purpose To determine if pharmaceutical information and the use of pillboxes may improve satisfaction of patients treated with temozolomide. Materials and Methods This prospective and interventional study included adult patients who picked temozolomide up in our Hospital Pharmacy (01/03/2012 to 31/08/2012). In the first visit, patients previously treated with temozolomide completed a satisfaction questionnaire, which was adapted from the ESTAR questionnaire (ARPAS study). It consisted of 9 questions to be answered from 0 (very unsatisfied) to 6 (very satisfied), and another two items about temozolomide information. In addition, pharmaceutical information and pillboxes were provided to all patients. At their next visit, patients received another questionnaire, with 6 of the previous satisfaction questions and 5 new questions about usefulness of the pillbox and of the received information. Results 35 patients were evaluated with the first questionnaire (50.69 ± 13.38 years old; 77.14% were treated with ≥3 capsules per dose) and 28 of them filled in the second questionnaire (50.32 ± 12.45 years old; 75% taking ≥3 capsules per dose). 88.57% vs. 85.71% of patients took their pills in cycles of 5 days followed by 23 days without treatment. Satisfaction pre- and post-intervention was related to: the number of capsules prescribed per dose (4.43 ± 1.60 vs. 4.96 ± 0.84), the possibility of taking their treatment everywhere (5.17 ± 0.92 vs. 5.32 ± 0.82), and the convenience of the chemotherapeutic regime (5.06 ± 0.94 vs. 5.07 ± 1.05). The usefulness of the pharmaceutical attention, the pillbox and the leaflet were valuated as 5.46 ± 0.58, 5.39 ± 0.69 and 5.68 ± 0.48, respectively. Global satisfaction with pharmaceutical attention was 5.79 ± 0.42. Conclusions In this study, information provided by hospital pharmacist and the use of pillboxes improved satisfaction in patients treated with temozolomide. No conflict of interest.

A descriptive study about the use of pillboxes by older adults

“…In this way, one can observe that the pillboxes are a simple, low-cost way to intervene in difficult to adhere to a drug treatment, but that still requires further studies in relation to the difficulties presented by the older adults while using them [24,25].…”

“…Previous studies have suggested that seniors' ability to take oral prescription drugs safely is affected by cogni-tive function and socioeconomic status [2,26], health knowledge, and health and medication habits [8,27]. In addition, studies have suggested that special attention should be paid to persons taking three or more drugs, living alone, and receiving drugs from multiple doctors, as well as to those with pre-dementia symptoms, as they are at higher risk of non-adherence [2,21,25,28].…”

“…A study that tested the use of pillboxes by 245 people with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome concluded that the use of pillboxes can improve adherence to treatment and consequently help with viral suppression, as well as being associated with an overall reduction cost of US$19,000 on treatments [31]. Not surprisingly, studies state that pillboxes should therefore be a standard intervention to improve adherence to antiretroviral therapy and other types of oral medication [25,[31][32][33].…”

“…There are a vast quantity of different pillboxes, the most common being one with a weekly format with four sub-compartments corresponding to different periods of the day (Morning, Noon, Evening, and Bed Time) [22,23]. Pillboxes were developed to decrease adherence errors and allow the elderly to maintain an independent lifestyle [8,[22][23][24][25]. But filling correctly the pillbox is not a simple task as it requires an understanding of complex medication regimens, in addition to the skill to organize a schedule with the prescriptions and handle this schedule across a one-week timeframe [2,21].…”