ReportElectronic monitoring of medication adherence in skin disease: Results of a pilot study☆
Section snippets
Methods
The MEMS cap is a medication bottle cap that has a microprocessor inside and has the ability to record the time and date of every opening of the bottle. The cap fits standard pharmacy bottles, and opens and closes just like a standard bottle. It can record up to 1800 dose events and has a battery life of 18 months. Although the MEMS cap is noted to be waterproof by the company, no studies have been done to test the caps usage with topical therapies such as gels, creams, or ointments.
As a
Results
During the testing phase before patient use, we found that the MEMS caps were able to keep an accurate record of all events using the 6 bottles with topical therapies. We tested stability of medication using ointments, gels, and creams, and found that if properly opened and closed, medication remained stable during a 4-week period. We also found that the monitors were able to accurately record the opening and closing of the bottles, and the software was able to download this information
Discussion
The results of this pilot study shed light on the potential advantages and disadvantages of the electronic monitors for measuring treatment adherence in skin disease. Potential advantages seem to include recording greater number of missed doses and decreased likelihood of reporting biases. Disadvantages include restriction to clinical research settings for the time being (costs, instructions on use) and potential inappropriate medication container use affecting medication stability, recording
Acknowledgements
We thank Vishal Khanna and Ann McCarthy for project assistance.
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Supported in part by Fujisawa Healthcare Inc, Deerfield Ill, and through the Center for Dermatology Research, Wake Forest University Health Sciences.
Conflicts of interest: None identified.