Telephone Counseling and Home Telehealth Monitoring to Improve Medication Adherence: Results of a Pilot Trial Among Individuals With Multiple Sclerosis

Objective: To evaluate the impact upon medication adherence of brief telephone-based counseling using principles of motivational interviewing and telehealth home monitoring. Design: Randomized controlled pilot trial of 19 veterans with multiple sclerosis (MS) currently prescribed disease modifying therapy (DMT) who endorsed missing doses. Follow-up was conducted at 1, 3, and 6 months. Results: Participants in the intervention condition reported better adherence relative to controls at 6-month follow-up [M (SD) = 1.3 (2.1) vs. 8.2 (12.3) past month missed doses]. All participants in the intervention condition completed all 3 telephone counseling sessions and 90% or greater rated the program as highly successful. Conclusion: Brief telephone counseling represents a promising mechanism for improving medication adherence. The primary components, motivational interviewing and home telehealth monitoring, provided complementary mechanisms for initiating and sustaining behavior change over time. The intervention was well tolerated and provided an opportunity to extend access and reduce barriers to care by bringing it into the homes of participants.