The Adherence to Treatment in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia with Imatinib: The Role of Prescribed Daily Dose

Purpose: Adherence to treatment plays a key role in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), among whom adherence rates range from 57% to 95% depending on the method of analysis. The aim of this study was to calculate the one- and two-year adherence of CML patients to imatinib treatment in real-world clinical practice using two different methods of analysis. Methods:The two methods of analysis compared were the ratio between the received daily dose (RDD) and the prescribed daily dose (PDD), and the medication possession ratio (MPR). Results:The medication adherence, in the first year, was 0.90 ± 0.15 when calculated using RDD/PDD, and 0.83 ± 0.20 when calculated using the MPR; the corresponding values in the second year were respectively 0.90 ± 0.10 and 0.82 ± 0.16. The differences in the values calculated using the two methods was therefore considerable, being 7% in the first year and 8% in the second Conclusion:In the case of diseases for which the prescribed dose may vary from one patient to another or during the course of treating individual patients, it is not suitable to use methods based on the DDD as a surrogate for the PDD.

Author(s): Fiorenzo S*

Abstract | Full-Text | PDF

Share This Article