Non-adherence to Disease-Modifying Treatments in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating disease of the centralnervous system. Usually, long-term MS medications are injectedintramuscularly or subcutaneously, making them intolerable for many MSpatients.Objectives: In the present study, the rate and the causes of non-adherence toMS disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) were assessed in patients with MS.Materials and Methods: Two hundred and three MS patients of Guilan MSSociety were interviewed demographic and clinical data of the patients werecollected.Results: Among the 203 patients, 73.9% were female. The mean±SD age ofthe patients was 32.47±9.15. Non-adherence to DMDs was due to side effects(21.7%) and requests of the families (21.7%) or ineffectiveness (17.4%).Significant association was seen between the non-adherence to DMDs andgender (p=0.015) and relapses (p=0.021).Conclusion: The evidence from the present study suggests that there is a highrate of non-adherence to DMDs in MS patients in Guilan.