4CPS-046 Glucocorticoids in chronic inflammatory diseases: assessment of patients’ adherence

BackgroundGlucocorticoids (GC) are widely used in the management of chronic inflammatory diseases. However, lack of patients’ adherence leads to suboptimal effectiveness of GC therapy in real-life practicePurposeThe aim of this study is to identify factors which may lead to non adherence to oral GC in the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases.Material and methodsCross-sectional study included outpatients and inpatients in an internal medicine department. Patients who had been taking oral GC for more than 3 months prior to the study were enrolled. Adherence was measured using patient self-reports. Bivariate methods were used for analysis.ResultsNinety-seven patients (sex ratio=0.18), with a mean ±SD age of 51±13 years were enrolled. Patients interviewed were under GC therapy since an average of 7.71±5.75 years. The median daily GC dose was 16.35 mg (all patients were treated with prednisone). Fifty-three patients (55%) had poor adherence to GC. Major causes reported were occurrence of an adverse event, forgetfulness and a high number of pills respectively in 28, 24 and 13 patients. Female sex (p=0.032) and age greater than 40 years (p