Compliance with stimulant medications in patients with narcolepsy

The goals of this descriptive study were to determine what percentage of our treated narcoleptic subjects took their stimulant medications as prescribed and to examine the relationship between compliance and response to stimulant medications. Data obtained from a screening questionnaire, sleep diaries, and medical records showed that 22 of our 43 treated narcoleptic subjects reduced their dosage of stimulant medications or had not taken any stimulant medications during a 24-hour monitoring period during which they were expected to be on medication. Although we had expected better compliance among subjects who responded to stimulant medications (day-wake subjects), statistical testing revealed no significant differences between the two groups. Nor were there any significant differences in age, gender, or educational level when compliant and noncompliant subjects were compared. Only the type of drug prescribed (short versus long-acting stimulant) affected compliance; 39.4% of the subjects with prescriptions for dextroamphetamine or methylphenidate took the amount of medication prescribed compared to 87.5% of the subjects with prescriptions for pemoline.