J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2020 May 12.doi: 10.1097/MPG.0000000000002778.Online ahead of print.

Jill M Plevinsky ¹, Lee A Denson, Jenny Hellmann, Phillip Minar, Michael J Rosen, Kevin A Hommel

Author information

¹Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

Abstract

Measuring medication adherence in pediatric inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) is challenging due to complexities in personalized treatment regimens and increased use of biologic mono- and combination therapy. Objective measurement of adherence via electronic monitoring is the gold standard; however, it is not useful for daily monitoring when multiple medication formulations (e.g., pills, injections, infusions) as well as vitamins/supplements are prescribed. Although validated subjective measures are available, they are not designed for daily use and do not capture day-to-day variation in adherence. In the following paper, a new approach to measuring adherence regardless of a patient's specific medication regimen is presented. Utilizing a micro-longitudinal design, 30 days of daily self-reported medication adherence data was collected from youth with IBD via text message. Results reflect mean adherence rates from studies utilizing pill counts and electronic monitoring, suggesting promise for the use of self-reported daily diaries to assess medication adherence in pediatric IBD.