Adherence and quality of life in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia treated with oral antineoplastic drugs.

Objective: To evaluate adherence and quality of life to oral antineoplastic treatment in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. To compare adherence and QoL according to treatment subgroups and treatment-line subgroups.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive prospective study from June to November 2021 in a tertiary care hospital. Patients treated at the Oncology Pharmacy with a diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and treatment with oral antineoplastics for at least 6 months before inclusion in the study were included. Adherence was assessed using Morisky's 8 item Medication Adherence Scale and leftover pills counts, considering adherents if their adherence rate was ≥ 90%. Quality of life was assessed with Euro-Qol EQ-5D-3L questionnaire, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy - Fatigue scale and QLQ-C30 questionnaire from European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer. Two interviews were scheduled: at the time of inclusion and at 3 months. Variable collected: demographic data, clinical data (disease and treatment); and response (scores obtained from questionnaires and adherence rate). The data statistical analysis was carried out with SPSS® 25.0 software.

Results: Twenty three patients were included, all of them showed an adherence rate higher than 90%; 20 patients were considered high adherent, and 3 patients medium adherent to treatment according to Morisky's 8 item Medication Adherence Scale. The results of the EQ-5D-3L questionnaire showed that the patients were all of them autonomous in their personal care and daily activities, 69.6% did not have any mobility problems and 78.3% did not have anxiety/depression; 56.5% had some type of pain. Eighteen patients had no fatigue, and 5 had mild/moderate fatigue according to Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy - Fatigue scale. The results of the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire showed that patients had a high /healthy functional level, a good quality of life and a low level of symptoms. Analysis by treatment subgroups and by treatment-line subgroups did not show statistically significant differences in adherence or quality of life.

Conclusions: Patients diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and treated with oral antineoplastic therapies showed a high adherence rate and referred a good quality of life.