Abstract
Abstract
Background:
Currently, few studies exist on patient adherence to adjuvant neuropathic pain medications in the palliative care setting.
Objectives:
We assessed patient adherence rates to neuropathic pain medications in a palliative care clinic and compared patient self-reported adherence to pharmacy refill records.
Methods:
This was an observational single site cross-sectional study of patients with neuropathic pain receiving at least one neuropathic pain medication for at least three months. Participants who met the inclusion criteria and agreed to participate completed a 7-day-recall (7DR) adherence measure and gave permission to contact their pharmacy after the visit to collect refill records for the six months before the clinic visit. This information was used to calculate the medication possession ratio (MPR).
Results:
We analyzed 32 patients; most (81%) had neuropathic pain related to a cancer diagnosis. The mean self-reported adherence based on 7DR was 94%. The mean MPR was 63%. A majority of patients (88%) had high self-reported adherence (>80%); however, only 44% of patients had a MPR >80%.
Conclusion:
Results indicated that the MPR might be a more accurate measure of adherence than patient self-report. More research is needed to assess and improve adherence of neuropathic pain medications in the outpatient palliative care setting.
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