ReportStealth monitoring of adherence to topical medication: Adherence is very poor in children with atopic dermatitis
Section snippets
Methods
We enrolled 37 patients from the Dermatology Clinic at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. There were no advertisements for this study. Eligibility criteria included age of 12 years or younger and diagnosis of mild to moderate atopic dermatitis (suitable for treatment with triamcinolone ointment) by a dermatologist. Patients and their parents were told we wanted to see how well a commonly used corticosteroid ointment works for their atopic dermatitis; verbal consent was obtained.
Results
Twenty-six children with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis completed the study. More than half the sample consisted of male children (54%) and had black ethnicity (62%). Mean age was 4.4 years with a range from 6 months to 14 years. One subject was enrolled in the study who was 14 years old. It was later realized by the study staff that the cutoff age was 12 years. The subject was left in the study and completed the 8-week course. The EASI score at baseline was 10.1 (out of a possible score of
Discussion
Adherence to topical medication is poor in study settings. An Italian study using self-reported adherence found adherence rates of only 50% in psoriasis patients.11 Mean overall adherence to topical therapy in psoriasis over 8 weeks was 55% when assessed with electronic monitors, far lower than the 90% to 100% adherence rates reported by patient diaries and medication weight estimates.9
We anticipated that adherence in a typical patient population would likely be lower than adherence in clinical
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Funding sources: None.
Disclosure: The Center for Dermatology Research is supported by an educational grant from Galderma Laboratories, L.P. The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.