Video: Every Case Tells a Story| Webinar: ACR/CHEST ILD Guidelines in Practice

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

  • Conditions
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis
    • Gout and Crystalline Arthritis
    • Myositis
    • Osteoarthritis and Bone Disorders
    • Pain Syndromes
    • Pediatric Conditions
    • Psoriatic Arthritis
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Sjögren’s Disease
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
    • Systemic Sclerosis
    • Vasculitis
    • Other Rheumatic Conditions
  • FocusRheum
    • ANCA-Associated Vasculitis
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis
    • Gout
    • Psoriatic Arthritis
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
  • Guidance
    • Clinical Criteria/Guidelines
    • Ethics
    • Legal Updates
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence
      • Other ACR meetings
      • EULAR/Other
    • Research Rheum
  • Drug Updates
    • Analgesics
    • Biologics/DMARDs
  • Practice Support
    • Billing/Coding
    • EMRs
    • Facility
    • Insurance
    • QA/QI
    • Technology
    • Workforce
  • Opinion
    • Patient Perspective
    • Profiles
    • Rheuminations
      • Video
    • Speak Out Rheum
  • Career
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Awards
    • Career Development
  • ACR
    • ACR Home
    • ACR Convergence
    • ACR Guidelines
    • Journals
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
    • From the College
    • Events/CME
    • President’s Perspective
  • Search

Personal Beliefs Affect Medication Adherence for RA Patients

Richard Quinn  |  July 10, 2015

GENERIC_Drugs_500x270A British study of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients found that 40% of those surveyed scored poorly on medication adherence, reinforcing the need to impress upon patients how important constancy is, one rheumatologist says.

Published online in May in Rheumatology, the paper, “The influence of behavioural and psychological factors on medication adherence over time in rheumatoid arthritis patients: A study in the biologics era,” involved 239 patients in England who were treated with adalimumab. Low adherence was reported by 23% of respondents, with 41% of respondents reporting low adherence during at least one time period.1

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The variation of patients who reported currently adhering poorly to medication guidelines vs. those who admitted they had struggled with adherence at some prior point is important, says Jennifer Stichman, MD, an assistant professor of general internal medicine at Denver Health and the University of Colorado, who has written about medication adherence for The Rheumatologist.

“This [variation] reinforces that asking about adherence on a regular basis is important,” Dr. Stichman adds.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The study concluded that rheumatologists’ paying more attention to the importance of psychological factors—particularly patients’ medication beliefs—could “have substantial clinical and health economic benefits in RA.”

“It all comes down to time,” Dr. Stichman says. Rheumatologists need to take time to flesh out how patients view medication and work from there. A screening question for adherence could be added to the introductory paperwork, for example.

“Medication beliefs are not part of the usual framework we [are] taught to ask patients about their medicines,” Dr. Stichman says. “Certainly, we are trained to ask about tolerability, side effects and efficacy, and I would add that the next step is to ask about adherence. There is value to clinicians in knowing that medication beliefs influence patient behavior because it can help us modify our behavior to elicit those beliefs.”

Richard Quinn is a freelance writer in New Jersey.

Reference

  1. Morgan C, McBeth J, Cordingley L, et al. The influence of behavioural and psychological factors on medication adherence over time in rheumatoid arthritis patients: A study in the biologics era. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2015 May 13. pii: kev105. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/kev105. [Epub ahead of print]

Share: 

Filed under:ConditionsDrug UpdatesRheumatoid Arthritis Tagged with:adalimumabadherenceMedicationRheumatiod arthritis

Related Articles

    Racial Bias Found in Pain Assessment, Management, Treatment Recommendations by Clinicians

    October 10, 2016

    In the world of evidence-based medicine, basing diagnosis and treatment decisions on belief instead of data seems anachronistic. And yet … clinicians are human, and humans live in culture, and culture is formed by beliefs, and beliefs (consciously or unconsciously) drive perception and, often, action. So a new study shining a light on racial bias…

    Medication Non-Adherence by Rheumatology Patients & What Rheumatologists Can Do

    April 1, 2015

    Lack of efficacy, poor DAS scores may be misinterpreted as a drug failure

    New Study Asks Why Lupus Patients Don’t Take Their Hydroxychloroquine

    September 17, 2019

    Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) therapy may effectively manage systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in many patients, but that doesn’t mean patients will take it as often as they should. In fact, results from a recently published study found that about half of SLE patients were not adherent.1 The study was led by Lucy H. Liu, MD, MPH, a…

    Rheumatoid Arthritis & Exercise Avoidance

    November 19, 2018

    “Don’t believe everything you think,” said Allan Lokos, the founder and guiding teacher of the Community Meditation Center located in New York City’s upper west side. These words may be especially important for those dealing with chronic pain, finds new multicenter research. The study, “Trajectories of Fear-Avoidance Beliefs on Physical Activity Over Two Years in…

  • About Us
  • Meet the Editors
  • Issue Archives
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies. ISSN 1931-3268 (print). ISSN 1931-3209 (online).
  • DEI Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookie Preferences