Factors That Influence Adherence and Strategies to Maintain Adherence to Injected Therapies for Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

A key aspect of the management of care for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) is identifying which patients are struggling with adherence. Disease-modifying therapies for the treatment of MS are primarily preventative, with modest efficacy, and they can possibly cause significant side effects. These factors can lead patients to stop taking their medication because they continue to experience symptoms or relapses of the disease, and/or they have painful injection-site reactions on most parts of their bodies. However, striving for 100% adherence to the prescribed treatment regimen remains the goal and is the surest way to reap all the benefits associated with immunomodulatory therapy. Building trust, promoting injection self-efficacy, and educating patients about proper injection techniques to prevent injection-site reactions have the greatest impact on patient adherence. Factors including family involvement, financial stability and support, hope, and faith can also have a positive impact on adherence. Identifying patients who may be struggling with depression, which is easily treatable but often not well addressed, and providing access to mental health services are important. Although many strides have been made with regard to MS patient care, outlining strategies that can maintain or encourage adherence can provide practitioners with tools to facilitate their patients' health and well-being.