Observations on the Effect of Electronic Needle Container on Adherence to Adalimumab

Excerpt

In this multicentre, non-randomized 12-month observational study, they included patients with adalimumab-treated inflammatory bowel disease. The patients were non-adalimumab-naive and may have been self-selected to be more compliant than the general population. All patients were invited to receive an electronic needle container (ENC). The “ENC” manufactured by HealthBeacon is a smart sharps bin which photographs syringes being “dropped” into the device after they are used. Patients who declined or did not complete the registration for an ENC served as controls, which may represent a potential source of bias in this study. The primary endpoint was whether an ENC increased adherence, calculated from pharmacy refills as proportion of days covered (PDC). There was no significant difference in the primary endpoint between those with and without an ENC. They concluded that their results “show no beneficial effect of a reminder-based intervention on adherence or treatment outcomes.” …