Background and importance The transition to oral therapies in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) offers potential benefits to patients, however they must self-manage their medications and adherence can become an issue. It has been shown that patient satisfaction with medication has a strong positive correlation with adherence in chronic diseases. To date, there is no standard method of measuring adherence.

Aim and objectives The aim of this study was to estimate the adherence rate of oral antimyeloma therapies using two indirect methods and to identify risk factors for medication non-adherence. A secondary aim was to explore patients’ and caregivers’ perceptions of their medications.

Material and methods We carried out a cross sectional, observational, prospective, multicentre survey based on a self-reported questionnaire. All consecutive MM patients, with at least 3 months of oral therapy prescriptions were included. The structured and validated 6 item Girerd Scale and the medication possession ratio (MPR) were used for measuring medication adherence, and the SATMED-Q questionnaire was used for measuring patient satisfaction with the medication. An analysis of risk factors for non-adherence to oral therapy was performed using univariate analysis. Patients’ and caregivers’ opinions about their medications were assessed with a score from 0 (no importance) to 10 (highest importance).

Results 101 of 116 analysed patients participated in the survey, giving a response rate of 87%. The prevalence of adherence to oral antimyeloma therapy was estimated at 51.5% using the questionnaire, corresponding to a high level of adherence (ie, score=6). According to the MPR, adherence was evaluated at 96%, which was also considered high (ie, MPR ≥0.80). With both methods combined, adherence was estimated at 50.5%. One risk factor for non-adherence to oral antimyeloma therapy was identified: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG-PS) >2 (p value=0.007). One predictive factor for good adherence to oral antimyeloma therapy was also identified: high satisfaction with treatment (p=0.01). No statistically significant difference was observed between patients and caregivers’ perceptions of their medications.

Conclusion and relevance Determining risk factors that influence adherence could be helpful to better identify patients at a higher risk for non-adherence, to personalise therapeutic information and education, and to improve the quality of healthcare overall.

Conflict of interest No conflict of interest