PERSONAL DIGITAL VIDEO: A METHOD TO MONITOR DRUG REGIMEN ADHERENCE DURING HUMAN CLINICAL INVESTIGATIONS

Maintaining patient adherence to a drug regimen has proven to be difficult. Missed doses can impact drug efficacy and disease control, leading to increased health-care costs.

During clinical drug trials, poor adherence could lead to false conclusions regarding drug efficacy. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine the feasibility of using personal digital video cameras to monitor adherence to a medication regimen during a clinical investigation.

Older men and women (60–78 years) participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to determine the effect of ibuprofen or paracetamol on skeletal muscle adaptations to chronic resistance exercise training. Patients took three daily doses of either a placebo or the maximal daily over-the-counter dose of ibuprofen (1.2 g/day) or paracetamol (4.0 g/day) for 12 weeks. Prior to beginning the study, subjects were trained to use a personal digital video camera to record their drug consumption.

Subjects correctly recorded 4956 of 5375 doses, resulting in an average camera compliance rate of 92% (71–100%).

We describe a method of monitoring adherence to a prescribed drug regimen during a clinical investigation. Camera compliance rates, which directly confirm drug consumption, were higher than what is typically obtained with other methods of monitoring adherence. This camera compliance method provides the investigator with a simple and convenient means to generate direct evidence of drug consumption.