Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Multiple sclerosis

MS treatment adherence—how to keep patients on medication?

Nature Reviews Neurology volume 7, pages 421–422 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Disease-modifying therapies can positively influence the progression of multiple sclerosis, but how many patients continue to take their medications? A new study shows that the majority of patients with multiple sclerosis stop treatment. Research should focus on ways to improve adherence to disease-modifying therapies.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Goodin, D. S. Disease-modifying therapy in multiple sclerosis: update and clinical implications. Neurology 71, S8–S13 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Wong, J., Gomes, T., Mamdani, M., Manno, M. & O'Conner, P. Adherence to multiple sclerosis disease-modifying therapies in Ontario is low. Can. J. Neurol. Sci. 38, 429–433 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Sabate, E. et al. Adherence to long-term therapies: evidence for action. World Health Organization[online], (2003).

  4. Bruce, J. M., Hancock, L. & Lynch, S. Treatment adherence in multiple sclerosis: association with emotional status, personality, and cognition. J. Behav. Med. 33, 219–227 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Reynolds, M. W., Stephen, R., Seaman, C. & Rajagopalan, K. Persistence and adherence to disease modifying drugs among patients with multiple sclerosis. Curr. Med. Res. Opin. 26, 663–674 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Cunningham, A., Gottberg, K., von Koch, L. & Hillbert, J. Non-adherence to interferon-beta therapy in Swedish patients with multiple sclerosis. Acta Neurol. Scand. 121, 154–160 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Bruce, J. M., Hancock, L., Arnett, P. & Lynch, S. Objective adherence monitoring in MS: initial validation and association with self-report. Mult. Scler. 16, 112–120 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Berger, B. A., Liang, H. & Hudmon, K. S. Evaluation of software-based telephone counseling to enhance medication persistency among patients with multiple sclerosis. J. Am. Pharm. Assoc. 45, 466–472 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Mohr, D. C. et al. Treatment of depression improves adherence to interferon beta-1b therapy for multiple sclerosis. Arch. Neurol. 54, 531–533 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Holland, N. et al. Adherence to disease-modifying therapy in multiple sclerosis: part II. Rehabil. Nurs. 26, 221–226 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Missouri–Kansas City, 3050 Cherry Street, Room 324, Kansas City, MO 64110, USA

    Jared M. Bruce

  2. Department of Neurology, Kansas University Medical Center, University of Kansas, 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA

    Sharon G. Lynch

Authors
  1. Jared M. Bruce
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sharon G. Lynch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sharon G. Lynch.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

S. G. Lynch has received research support and aided in multicenter trials for the following companies: Actelion, Artielle Immunotherapeutics, Bayer, Biogen Idec, Eli Lilly, Genentech, Genzyme, Merck Serono, Novartis, ONO Pharma, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, UCB Pharma. J. M. Bruce declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bruce, J., Lynch, S. MS treatment adherence—how to keep patients on medication?. Nat Rev Neurol 7, 421–422 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2011.106

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2011.106

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing