Self-reported treatment adherence in inflammatory bowel disease in Indian patients.

Introduction: Non-adherence to medical therapy is emerging as an important determinant of relapse in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Aim: To find the prevalence of and reasons for nonadherence to medical therapy in Indian patients with IBD and its correlation with disease outcome.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we checked for adherence to treatment in 127 patients with IBD (117 ulcerative colitis and 10 Crohn's disease) using a questionnaire that inquired into frequency of missed doses, causes for missed doses, and its relation to relapse of disease.

Results: Of the 127 patients (mean age 42.8 years; 68 women), 103 (81%) were non-adherent to treatment, defined as taking 80% or less of the dose advised. The reasons for non-adherence (not mutually exclusive) were: forgetfulness-98 patients (77%), felt better-18 (14.2 %), high frequency of doses-13 (10.1%), no effect of medications-10 (7.87%), non-availability of medications-3 (2.3%). Non-adherent patients were three times more likely to develop a relapse as compared to those with adherence (OR 3.389, 95% CI 1.29-8.88, p=0.012).

Conclusions: Over 80% of patients with IBD in this survey were non-adherent to medical treatment; forgetfulness was mentioned as the most common cause. Non-adherent patients were more likely to relapse. Patients need to be educated regarding the need for adherence to treatment in IBD.