Volume 69, Issue 5 pp. 564-569
Original Article: Gastroenterology: Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Evaluation of a Novel Educational Tool in Adolescents With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

The NEAT Study

Karla K.H. Vaz

Karla K.H. Vaz

Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Schubert-Martin Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, Cincinnati, OH

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Julia K. Carmody

Julia K. Carmody

Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH

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Yue Zhang

Yue Zhang

Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

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Lee A. Denson

Lee A. Denson

Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Schubert-Martin Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, Cincinnati, OH

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Kevin A. Hommel

Corresponding Author

Kevin A. Hommel

Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Kevin A. Hommel, PhD, Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue MLC-7039, Cincinnati, OH 45229 (e-mail: [email protected]).Search for more papers by this author
First published: 01 November 2019
Citations: 11

Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citations appear in the printed text, and links to the digital files are provided in the HTML text of this article on the journal's Web site (www.jpgn.org).

This study was supported by a National Institutes of Health training grant awarded to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (T32 DK007727).

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

ABSTRACT

Objectives:

Among adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), nonadherence rates are 50 to 88% across medications. Improving education in adults with IBD has been shown to improve coping and adherence to treatment in adults with IBD. Therapeutic patient education (TPE) has been used in patients with chronic diseases to train patients in skills to support treatment adaptation and condition management. This study tested the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a novel TPE intervention in adolescents with IBD.

Methods:

In this pilot, mixed-methods study, we evaluated the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of TPE with the IBD Pocket Guide on medication adherence, IBD knowledge, and transition readiness in adolescents ages 11 to 18 years. Medication adherence was monitored using a MedMinder Pill Dispensing system. Participants who were <90% adherent during a 4-week pre-intervention monitoring period were randomized to either a usual care group or an educational intervention (EI) group. Participants were followed for an additional 4 weeks after intervention.

Results:

Trends were found in the EI group indicating improved medication adherence and IBD knowledge compared with the usual care group, though differences between groups did not reach statistical significance. Qualitative data showed that participants perceived that they had improved knowledge after the educational intervention.

Conclusions:

Therapeutic patient education may be beneficial for improving patient medication adherence and IBD knowledge. Future directions include testing the effects of the intervention with a larger sample.

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