Drug compliance of children and adolescents with epilepsy

BACKGROUND Compliance behavior depends on the specific clinical situation, the nature of the illness, and the treatment program. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of drug compliance in families caring for a child or adolescent with epilepsy and to describe some associated factors. METHODS All the patients with epilepsy under 18 years of age who were attending the Motahary Clinic of Shiraz for a six-month period and their families were interviewed. RESULTS The total number of participants was 181 patients. Drug compliance was satisfactory in 72.4% of the patients. Etiology of epilepsy, mono-therapy versus poly-therapy, duration of the disease, age of the patient, accompanying disease, parental smoking, parental education and living in urban versus rural areas did not significantly influence the drug compliance but maternal age was significantly higher in patients with poor compliance. Also, patients with positive family history of epilepsy had more noncompliance. Moreover, family size had a significant effect on drug compliance. Finally, patients using phenobarbital were more complaint than other patients. CONCLUSIONS In this study, drug compliance was satisfactory in almost three-fourths of the patients with epilepsy. There was no significant association between noncompliance and the cause of epilepsy, duration of the disease, socio-economic status (parental smoking, living place, education) and number of drugs used to treat the illness. But paying attention to medication education for patients and parents, decreasing the complexity of the treatment regimen and younger possibly more motivated mothers in a small family, increased the drug compliance.