Poor adherence to treatments persists in many adult patients with eosinophilic esophagitis

Several adult patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) poorly adhere to their maintenance treatment, a recent study has found.

Therefore, “[c]linicians should pay more attention to treatment adherence, particularly in younger patients, and discuss the necessity of treatment,” the investigators said.

This cross-sectional study included adult EoE patients who were prescribed medical or dietary maintenance therapy. Participants completed questionnaires regarding treatment adherence (Medication Rating Scale), beliefs about treatment (Beliefs about Medicine Questionnaire), beliefs about disease (Illness Perception Questionnaire), and current symptoms (Straumann Dysphagia Index).

Of the 177 EoE patients included (median age 43 years), 71 percent were males. The overall prevalence of poor adherence to prescribed treatments (Medication Adherence Rating Scale <21 or Diet Adherence Rating Scale <21) among participants was high at 41.8 percent. Medically treated patients appeared to be less adherent to treatment than those prescribed a diet (35.1 percent vs 41.8 percent; p=0.320).

In multivariate logistic regression analyses, poor treatment adherence was found to be associated with the following independent factors: age <40 years (odds ratio [OR], 2.571, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.195‒5.532; p=0.016), longer disease duration in years (OR, 1.130, 95 percent CI, 1.014‒1.258; p=0.027), severe symptoms (Straumann Dysphagia Index; OR, 1.167, 95 percent CI, 1.012‒1.345; p=0.034), and low necessity beliefs (OR, 4.423, 95 percent CI, 2.169‒9.016; p<0.001).