Clinical effectiveness of comprehensive psychological intervention for nonadherence to medical treatment: a case series.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of an adherence promotion intervention provided to patients and families referred to a clinical service. METHODS 6 patients and their caregivers representing 5 different chronic conditions were seen for comprehensive psychological intervention that was evaluated based on electronic monitoring of adherence to prescribed oral medication. RESULTS Time series analysis (Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average) indicated that for each of the 6 cases, treatment adherence increased during the intervention phase relative to nonintervention periods, but for 5 of these 6 patients, adherence decreased during the follow-up period (p < .05). CONCLUSION Comprehensive adherence promotion strategies delivered in standard clinical practice were effective, but the effects did not persist after treatment. Future adherence promotion interventions should focus on sustaining intervention effects.