Therapeutic Research

Abstract

Background：In order to improve medication adherence, it is necessary to consider the degree of knowledge of patients and family members about the prescribed medications and provide detailed medication guidance. 　Object：The purpose of this study was to ascertain the degree of knowledge of patients who have been newly prescribed mirogabalin tablets, a drug for treatment of neuropathic pain, with regard to the therapeutic agent and to investigate the changes in their knowledge level as a result of receiving personalized medication guidance based on their current knowledge level.　Method：The patients were asked 6 questions about the purpose of treatment, type of side effects, timing of onset of effects and side effects of the drug during each medication guidance session. The patients’ degree of knowledge was evaluated by scoring their responses to the 6 questions（know：“1”；do not know：“0”）and summing these responses, with a total possible score of 6 detailed explanation were provided to questions the patient could not answer correctly, this was done using medication guidance materials to improve their understanding.　Results：Of the 513 target patients, the degree of knowledge was evaluated up to 4 times for 136 patients. As a result, the mean degree of understanding score was 2.14 the first time, 4.70 the second time, 5.05 the third time, and significantly increased up to 5.18 the fourth time（p＜0.01）. In addition, at the 90‒day point, the medication persistence rate of the 513 patients was 19.5％. The most common reason for discontinuation was “drowsiness,”followed by“dizziness.”　Conclusion：The results suggest that the practice of standard medication guidance in accordance with each individual patient’s level of understanding can contribute to improving patient knowledge. Demonstrating the outcome of medication guidance that is standardized to many drugs to improve medication adherence can be explored in future research.