Effect of Pillbox Organizers with Alarms on Adherence to Pharmacotherapy in Parkinson Disease Patients Taking Three and More Daily Doses of Dopaminergic Medications

Abstract

Improvement of adherence to pharmacotherapy in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a challenge in routine clinical practice. Our study was aimed at the effect of pillbox organizers with alarms improving adherence to pharmacotherapy and its impact on clinical outcomes. Forty nonadherent patients with PD being treated with ≥ 3 daily doses of levodopa and/or dopamine agonists were pseudorandomized and consecutively ranked to groups A (early-start intervention) and B (delayed-start intervention). We used the following validated diagnostic instruments: MMAS-8 (adherence), PDQ-8 (quality of life, QoL), GDS (depression), NMSS (non-motor symptoms), MDS-UPDRS III (motor involvement), MDS-UPDRS IV, and WOQ-9 (motor and non-motor fluctuations and dyskinesias). We proved a significantly improved rate of adherence with the use of pillbox organizers with alarms. Moreover, after only four weeks of using the pillbox organizer, we detected an improvement in QoL scores, motor involvement, motor-, and non-motor fluctuations. Our study showed that pillbox organizers with alarms are efficient in improving adherence to pharmacotherapy in PD. It also could contribute to better motor states, less severe fluctuations, and improved QoL.