Nonadherence rates range from 50% to 88% in teenagers with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Improving education in patients with IBD has been found to increase coping and medication adherence. Therapeutic patient education (TPE) has been utilized to teach individuals skills to facilitate therapy adaptation and condition control in patients with chronic conditions. The feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a new TPE intervention in adolescents with IBD were investigated in this study.
Researchers assessed the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of TPE with the IBD Pocket Guide on medication adherence, IBD knowledge, and transition preparedness in adolescents aged 11 to 18 years in this pilot, mixed-methods study. A MedMinder Pill Dispensing device was used to track medication adherence. Patients who were below 90% adherent throughout a 4-week pre-intervention monitoring period were randomly assigned to one of two groups: usual care or educational intervention (EI).
When compared to the standard care group, there were trends in the EI group showing improved medication adherence and IBD awareness, albeit the differences between groups did not achieve statistical significance. According to qualitative data, patients thought that their knowledge had improved following the educational intervention.
Therapeutic patient education may be effective in increasing medication adherence and IBD understanding in patients. Future steps include assessing the intervention’s impact on bigger sample size.
Reference:journals.lww.com/jpgn/Fulltext/2019/11000/Evaluation_of_a_Novel_Educational_Tool_in.11.aspx
