A pharmacy-based coaching program to improve adherence to antidepressant treatment among primary care patients

Abstract

The effects on adherence and depressive symptoms of a community pharmacy-based coaching program, including a take-home videotape, were evaluated in a randomized controlled trial in the Netherlands. A total of 147 depressed primary care patients who had a new antidepressant prescription were included in the study. Adherence was measured with an electronic pill container and was also derived from pharmacy medication records; the latter method was associated with an overestimation of adherence of only 5 percent. Intention-to-treat analyses showed no intervention effect on adherence (73 percent compared with 76 percent), whereas analyses of patients who received the intervention (per protocol) showed improved adherence (73 percent compared with 90 percent). Neither analysis showed effects on depressive symptoms.