Disease Modifying Anti Rheumatic Drugs (DMARDs) reduce disease activity and radiological progression and improve long term functional outcome in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). However, adherence is a prerequisite for a drug to be effective. A previous study showed that 33% of the RA-patients using DMARDs are non-adherent. Non-adherence can not be attributed to a single cause, but is the result of a complex and individual decision process. An intervention should not only consider practical barriers, such as forgetfulness, but also cognitive and other psychological variables that might impact medication adherence. Therefore, an intervention was developed focusing primarily on the non-adherent patient's individual beliefs and barriers to adherence.
The effectiveness of this intervention will be evaluated in a randomized clinical trial. Primary outcome measure is beliefs about medication assessed with the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ). Additionally, adherence and adherence-related variables will be measured with questionnaires.
Read more: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00968266?cond=%22Arthritis%22&lup_s=07/28/2011&lup_d=30
