Predictors of Medication Adherence in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients at the Stollery Children’s Hospital

Abstract

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often do not take their medications as prescribed. To examine self-reported adherence rates in IBD patients at the Stollery Children's Hospital (Edmonton, Alberta) and to determine predictors of medication adherence. A survey was mailed to 212 pediatric IBD patients of the Stollery Children's Hospital. A chart review was completed for those who returned the survey. A total of 119 patients completed the survey. The nonresponders were significantly older than responders (14.5 years versus 13.2 years; P=0.032). The overall adherence rate was 80%. Nonadherence was associated with older age (14.6 years versus 13.0 years; P=0.04), longer disease duration (5.0 years versus 3.1 years; P=0.004) and reported use of herbal medications (40.0% versus 13.6%; P=0.029). The most common reasons reported for missing medications were forgetfulness, feeling better and too many medications. In addition, patients reported being more likely to take anti-inflammatory medications and less likely to take herbal medicines. Identified predictors of nonadherence such as age, disease duration and use of herbal treatments may enable the development of specific strategies to improve adherence in adolescents with IBD.