Enhancing Adherence and Satisfaction with Disease-Modifying Therapies in Multiple Sclerosis Through Pharmacist-Led Interventions: Interventional Study

Background: Pharmacists are essential in treating MS. Pharmacists' involvement and patient consultation may improve patient adherence and satisfaction.
Aim: To evaluate the influence of pharmacist-led interventions (PLI) on medication adherence and satisfaction in patients with multiple sclerosis receiving disease-modifying therapies (DMTs).
Methods: This study was conducted on patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis who were receiving DMTs and attended a neurological consultant clinic in the medical city of Baghdad. It was a pre-post-intervention study. Each patient underwent two educational sessions: the first session took place at the beginning of the study, after completing the Arabic version of the treatment satisfaction questionnaire for medication (TSQM-14item) and the Arabic version of the Morisky, Green, and Levine (MGL-4item) medication adherence scales. The second session occurred one month later. The duration of each session ranged from 30 to 45 minutes, during which the patients received educational counselling. Each patient was provided with a formal Arabic pamphlet. This pamphlet contained medical information about the disease and treatment. Subsequently, after two months, the patient completed the identical questionnaires once again.
Results: The participants' average age was 30.64±8.54. PLI had a substantial positive effect on adherence levels, but it did not have a significant impact on medication satisfaction. Significant variations in the educational level and type of treatment were only observed in the changes in treatment satisfaction scores. The degree of response to PLI was not correlated with sociodemographic factors.
Conclusion: The implementation of an educational intervention led by a clinical pharmacist can enhance the adherence of patients with multiple sclerosis; however, the change in treatment satisfaction scores was only a minimal change.