Nonadherence to antiseizure medications: what have we learned and what can be done next?

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Nonadherence to antiseizure medications (ASMs) is associated with increased mortality, morbidity, health care utilization, and costs. AREAS COVERED This article reviewed 18 randomized controlled trials published between Jan 2010 and Feb 2024 on Medication Adherence Enhancing Intervention (MAEI) for people with epilepsy. The adequacy of reporting intervention development process was assessed using the GUIDance for the rEporting of intervention Development (GUIDED). The adequacy of the intervention description was assessed using the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist. The interventions were categorized as educational (n = 7), behavioral (n = 5), or mixed (n = 6). The impact of MAEIs on adherence is mixed with majority of studies either reporting no difference between intervention and control groups (n = 6) or improvement in the intervention group (n = 7). The shortcomings in the reporting of MAEIs development, MAEIs description, and MAEIs impact measurement were discussed. EXPERT OPINION Future research needs to accomplish the following tasks 1) develop and test valid epilepsy-specific self-report measures for assessing adherence; 2) optimize intervention design; and 3) increase transparency in reporting all stages of research.