article · Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal
An evaluation of 94 adolescent patients with idiopathic epilepsy examined adherence levels to prescribed antiepileptic treatments. Assessed through semi-structured interviews with patients and their parents, the findings revealed that 38.3 percent of the adolescents were non-adherent. Key factors significantly linked to adherence included the number of prescribed medications, seizure frequency, the mother's age, family size, parental marital stability, family support, and the regularity of contact with healthcare providers. Forgetfulness represented the leading reason for missing doses, followed by difficulties obtaining medication and apprehension regarding side effects. Furthermore, individuals experiencing social stigma displayed significantly higher rates of non-adherence, whereas stronger personal beliefs regarding the necessity and clinical benefits of the medication correlated positively with good adherence. Routine evaluation of adherence is recommended to enhance patient management.
Epilepsy therapies have limited effectiveness if medications are not taken correctly. Identifying the personal, social, and family factors that disrupt adherence helps clinicians recognise vulnerable adolescents early. Addressing widespread obstacles such as forgetfulness, fear of side effects, and disease-related stigma allows healthcare teams to support long-term seizure management and improve quality of life for young patients.
These findings could guide the development of tailored patient-support programmes, digital reminder systems, or clinical screening questionnaires used by healthcare providers. Because the study focuses on observational behavioural data rather than testing a specific technology, it remains at the early-stage research level, and the abstract does not indicate a defined commercialisation pathway.
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The promotion of medication adherence is considered as an integral component of pharmaceutical care practice and patient healthcare. An approach which focuses on the choice and dose of antiepileptic drug will have limited success without medication adherence. This study sought to assess medication adherence for improvement among adolescents who are suffering from epilepsy. METHODS: A total of 116 patients affected with idiopathic epilepsy and fulfilled the inclusion criteria were recruited in the current study. Adherence to the treatment was evaluated during patients' hospitalization in the Department of Neurology at Riyadh National Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between December 2011 and January 2014. The medication adherence has been assessed during semi-structured interviews with each patient and/or his parents using a multiple choice graded questionnaire. RESULTS: From the selected group of patients, only 94 patients (81.0%) fulfilled the inclusion criteria within the study period. Thirty-six of respondents (38.3%) were non adherent to antiepileptic treatment. No statistical differences were found between males and females regarding their ages, age at diagnosis of epilepsy, mother age, epilepsy duration, family numbers, number of poor-adherents or seizure frequency. The most important factors that were significantly affecting patients' adherence to the prescribed medications were age of mother, family number, number of administered drugs, the stability of parents' marriage, family support, and seizure frequency as well as the regularity of the relationship between patients and their healthcare providers. Forgetfulness was the most common cause of non-adherence among this group of patients followed by inability to obtain medication and fear from side effects of drugs. Our results revealed also that the number of patients who felt to be stigmatized is significantly more in non-adherent group as compared to patients with a strong sense of normality (P < 0.05). A positive relationship between adherence and the necessity and benefit scales at which patients have a stronger belief in the necessity of medication for controlling illness was associated with good adherence. CONCLUSION: The assessment of medication adherence among epileptic patients should be a routine part of the management process to improve the health care and quality of lives of those patients.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.jsps.2014.05.003
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