Table 5.
The varying measures used to assess medication adherence.
| Outcomes | Measures | Prescribed medications(s) | Calculation of adherence level | Data collection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taking adherence | Electronic monitoring device, Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS) | Prednisolone and/or hydrocortisone | A percentage of days with the correct number of MEMS openings, which could be once or twice daily, over the total number of monitored days | Patients were in charge of when they wanted their MEMS scanned by either a pharmacist or a kidney transplant coordinator |
| Percentage of adherent patients | Electronic monitoring device, Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS) | Prednisolone and/or hydrocortisone | Patients were categorised as adherent when their “taking adherence” and “timing adherence” were ≥97% | As above. Patients were in charge of when they wanted their MEMS scanned |
| Medication adherence and percentage of adherent patients | Self-reported outcome, Basel Assessment of Adherence to Immunosuppressive Medications Scale (BAASIS©) | Immunosuppressive medications | The original scoring system of the BAASIS© was used to measure adherence without modification and patients were categorised as either adherent (score = 4) or non-adherent (score≥5) | One-off face-to-face during enrolment followed by every 3 months via telephone |
| Timing adherence | Electronic monitoring device, Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS) | Prednisolone and/or hydrocortisone | A percentage of days on which the MEMS was opened within a 2-hour interval of the patient’s average time, which could be once or twice daily, over the total number of monitored days | Patients were in charge of when they wanted their MEMS scanned |
| Medication possession rate | Prescription refill record | Prednisolone and/or hydrocortisone, mycophenolate and/or azathioprine and tacrolimus | A percentage of the number of doses filled by pharmacy over the number of doses prescribed | At the end of the study, from all community and/or hospital pharmacy(ies) |
| Variability of tacrolimus level (TacSD) | Immunosuppressive assay from hospital medical records | Tacrolimus | Standard deviation was calculated for each participant over the monitoring period. | At the end of the study, from hospital medical records |
| Barriers to medication adherence | Self-reported barriers outcome, Adherence Starts with Knowledge (ASK-20) | All medications | The original scoring system of the ASK-20 was used | One-off face-to-face during enrolment followed by every 3 months via telephone |