Citation

Aylward BS, Rausch JR, Modi AC. J. Pediatr. Psychol. 2014; 40(1): 66-74.

Affiliation

Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology and Sibley Heart Center Cardiology, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/jpepsy/jsu010

PMID

24648257

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of the current study was to use new methods to examine 1-year quality of medication dosing (adherence) and continuation with medication treatment (persistence) rates to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in children with newly diagnosed epilepsy.

METHODS: Medication-taking behaviors of AEDs were assessed using electronic monitors for 117 children with newly diagnosed epilepsy for the first year after diagnosis.

RESULTS: Approximately 15% of participants were categorized as nonpersistent (i.e., failed to take medication for >15 consecutive days) 6-months after AED initiation, which increased to 26.6% of participants at 1 year. The majority of medication dosing events took place within a +/-2-hr interval as recommended. The group with lower socioeconomic status demonstrated more nonpersistence over time.

CONCLUSION: Examining adherence and persistence in medication taking behaviors may yield different types of data for clinical and research purposes.

Language: en