Feasibility of using medication adherence scale in clozapine patients
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Feasibility of introducing medication Adherence Rating Scale (ARS) in clozapine clinic
IRAS ID
242041
Contact name
Asta Ratna Prajapati
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
18/LO/1018, London - Harrow Research Ethics Committee
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 28 days
Research summary
About half the populations living with chronic mental health conditions do not adhere to their prescribed medication direction. Medication non-adherence (generally defined as taking <80% of prescribed doses) is the most common cause of relapse in mental health disorder. In the UK, Department of Health estimates that non-adherence to medication is costing NHS £500 million per year (2011). Thus, improving medication adherence is of significant clinical importance and huge economic benefits.
The identification of non-adherent service user is the first critical part in dealing with adherence problem and associated relapses. Medication Adherence Rating Scale (ARS) are non-invasive, simple, cheap and easy to use and can be embedded in routine clinical practice.
Many medication ARS exists including Medication Adherence Scale(MARS), Drug Attitudes Questionnaire (DAI), Brief Adherence Rating Scale (BARS). Some have been shown to identify non-adherent service users diagnosed with schizophrenia and/or schizoaffective disorders. However, systematic assessment of non-adherence using validated medication ARS in clinical practice is rare. In addition, a very limited feasibility and acceptability work with end users i.e. patients and practitioners are reported.
We plan to investigate the feasibility of using ARS in patients prescribed clozapine. From the study we will be able to estimate the response rates, completion rates, identify barriers or difficulties in completing the ARS and explore patients’ acceptability to using ARS. We will also test the feasibility of correlating ARS with objective adherence measures such as blood plasma level, Medication Possession Ratio (MPR, The number of dispensed medication doses divided by the number of days in a unit of time).
REC name
London - Harrow Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1018
Date of REC Opinion
12 Jul 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion