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Implementation of a Health Literacy Intervention Improves Medication Adherence in Rheumatology Clinics

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Abstract

Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, communicate, and understand basic health information and services needed to make health decisions effectively. Adequate health literacy is essential for the optimal management of rheumatic diseases due to their multi-organ involvement and complex medication regimens. We review a recent quality assurance study which utilized a universal precautions health literacy approach and demonstrated significant improvement in medication adherence among patients with rheumatic diseases.

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Abbreviations

AHRQ:

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

CDAI:

clinical disease activity index

PDC:

proportions of days covered

DMARDs:

disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs

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Funding

Kai Sun received support from the Duke Center for REsearch to AdvanCe Healthcare Equity (REACH Equity) Career Development Award (NIH 5U54MD012530-02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Mithu Maheswaranathan & Kai Sun

  2. Duke University Medical Center, DUMC 2918, Durham, NC, 27710, USA

    Mithu Maheswaranathan

Authors
  1. Mithu Maheswaranathan
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  2. Kai Sun
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Contributions

MM and KS both analyzed and interpreted the original study for this commentary. MM was a major contributor in writing the manuscript and KS substantively revised it. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mithu Maheswaranathan.

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Maheswaranathan, M., Sun, K. Implementation of a Health Literacy Intervention Improves Medication Adherence in Rheumatology Clinics. SN Compr. Clin. Med. 3, 1551–1554 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42399-021-00901-8

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