Table 3.
Respondent Perspectives on Point-of-Care Devices and Saliva Lithium Monitoring
| Query | n (%) |
|---|---|
| Would a point-of-care device be useful? | |
| Not useful | 2 (3.1) |
| Somewhat useful | 13 (20.0) |
| Quite useful | 18 (27.7) |
| Very useful | 30 (46.2) |
| Undecided | 2 (3.1) |
| When do you think a point-of-care device be useful? | |
| When changing the dose | 55 (87.3) |
| Monitoring for medication adherence | 50 (79.4) |
| Monitoring side effects | 36 (57.1) |
| In patients who do not tolerate venipuncture | 48 (76.2) |
| Othera | 5 (7.9) |
| Would you find it useful if lithium levels could be effectively monitored in saliva instead of blood? | |
| Yes | 64 (98.5) |
| No | 1 (1.5) |
| If saliva samples could be collected at home and dropped off or mailed in for lithium monitoring, would you find this useful for your patients and hence your clinical decision making? | |
| Not at all | 3 (4.6) |
| Somewhat useful | 21 (32.3) |
| Quite useful | 13 (20.0) |
| Very useful | 27 (41.5) |
| Undecided | 1 (1.5) |
| When do you think at-home saliva collection would be useful? | |
| Changing the dose | 46 (75.4) |
| Monitoring for medication adherence | 40 (65.6) |
| Monitoring side effects | 36 (59.0) |
| In patients who do not tolerate venipuncture | 51 (83.6) |
| For patients with long commutes or to avoid coming into the clinic | 49 (80.3) |
| Otherb | 5 (8.2) |
| Would you be willing to provide patients with at-home saliva collection kits to drop off or mail in samples for lithium analysis? | |
| Yes | 61 (93.8) |
| No | 4 (6.2) |
| How compliant do you think patients would be with at-home saliva collection? | |
| Not at all | 0 (0.0) |
| Somewhat compliant | 23 (35.4) |
| Quite compliant | 27 (41.5) |
| Very compliant | 11 (16.9) |
| Undecided | 4 (6.2) |
Notes: aOther responses were: patient not adherent with lab requests; just being able to get a lab done; any time a patient is not hospitalized; during pregnancy. bOther responses were: when patients are making changes that could change their levels; just being able to get a lab done; for reliable patients; during pregnancy.