A Systematic Review of Factors Associated with Non-Adherence to Treatment for Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases

Non-adherence impacts negatively on patient health outcomes and has associated economic costs. Understanding drivers of treatment adherence in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases is key for the development of effective strategies to tackle non-adherence.

To identify factors associated with treatment non-adherence across diseases in three clinical areas: rheumatology, gastroenterology, and dermatology.

Systematic review.

Articles published in PubMed, Science Direct, PsychINFO and the Cochrane Library from January 1, 1980 to February 14, 2014.

Studies were eligible if they included patients with a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, or psoriasis and included statistics to examine associations of factors with non-adherence.

Data were extracted by the first reviewer using a standardized 23-item form and verified by a second/third reviewer. Quality assessment was carried out for each study using a 16-item quality checklist.

73 studies were identified for inclusion in the review. Demographic or clinical factors were not consistently associated with non-adherence. Limited evidence was found for an association between non-adherence and treatment factors such as dosing frequency. Consistent associations with adherence were found for psychosocial factors, with the strongest evidence for the impact of the healthcare professional-patient relationship, perceptions of treatment concerns and depression, lower treatment self-efficacy and necessity beliefs, and practical barriers to treatment.

While examined in only a minority of studies, the strongest evidence found for non-adherence were psychosocial factors. Interventions designed to address these factors may be most effective in tackling treatment non-adherence.