Original articleAdherence to treatment in children and adolescent patients with cystic fibrosis
Section snippets
Study design
Children younger than 12 years of age (group 1) and adolescents 12 years of age and older (group 2) with CF, attending the University of Michigan CF Center, were recruited to participate in this study.
The study was conducted over a 3-month period. Patients were recruited during a routine clinic visit to our CF Center. A total of 22 clinically stable patients per group were enrolled. The adherence rate to 2 medications was evaluated. The first medication was ADEKs (multivitamin supplement, plus
Results
Forty-four patients were enrolled (22 patients for each group) between October 2001 and April 2002. Clinical characteristics of the 2 groups at baseline are summarized in Table 1. Participants’ nutritional status was evaluated by their height for age and weight for age. Their illness severity was assessed by their forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) percent predicted. The mean FEV1 ± SD for group 1 was 89.7 ± 22.6 vs. 67.9 ± 26.0, which indicates that the younger age group has less
Discussion
Previous studies mainly have evaluated adherence to medication in CF patients subjectively by relying on patient/parent questionnaires, diaries, and self-reporting [3], [6], [7], [8]. In this study, the adherence rates to 2 medications commonly used in CF patient management were measured objectively. The first medication was ADEKs, an orally administered multivitamin especially formulated for CF patients. ADEKs adherence was evaluated using the MEMS monitors. They are special pharmacy vial caps
Acknowledgment
Supported in part by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Traineeship grant, Axcon Scandipharm, Inc., Birmingham, AL and Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA.
Presented in part in a poster session at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference, New Orleans, LA, October 3–7, 2002; at the 13th Annual Pediatric Research Symposium, receiving honorable mention, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, October 18, 2002; and at the American Thoracic Society International Conference, Seattle, WA, May
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