Non-adherence to Treatment Regime Linked to Adverse Clinical Outcomes in Liver Transplant Recipients

New research reports that liver transplant recipients' less understanding of treatment regime and non-adherence to medications is linked to adverse clinical outcomes, such as organ rejection or graft loss. Immunosuppressive drug therapies help improve survival rates for those undergoing solid organ transplantation. However, their effectiveness may be hindered by multidrug regimens that require strict adherence overtime, with non-adherence responsible for close to 50% of late acute rejections and 15% of graft losses in adults.

The research team enrolled 105 liver transplant patients, majority of which were middle-aged men. 15% of the group had limited literacy. The average number of medications used by patients was 11, with 39% of the group having had a change in medication within the last month. Results showed that on an average 86% patients understood their entire medication regimen, with 78% adhering to the therapy regime. Self-reported non-adherence to the treatment regimen was 14% and based on tacrolimus levels the number more than doubles to 32% of patients.