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ABSTRACT
Background: Patient compliance and completion of a recommended course of therapy is strongly associated with improvement in patient outcomes.
Objectives: To implement and evaluate the impact of the Lupron Depot patient education/disease management program.
Methods: This is a prospective follow-up study of 3157 patients receiving Lupron therapy. Patients were evaluated at the beginning of therapy, and then received printed educational materials as well as live educational sessions over the telephone. Patients were instructed to report any encountered/suspected side effects to a 24-hour hotline. Additional telephone interviews were conducted as needed for education and disease management.
Results: A total of 3,153 patients were enrolled in the study, and a total of 1356 telephone-conferences were conducted. Patient compliance with therapy increased from 74% to 98.6%. This program promoted proper utilization of healthcare resources, minimized ER visits and reduced disease complications with an estimated cost savings of $4,020,140. While the frequency of several side effects such as headache, general pain and hot flashes was similar to what was previously reported, the frequency of others was significantly higher e.g., weight changes 14.8% (compared with 3%), joint disorder/pain 76.7% (compared with 7.8–11.7%), depression 35.5% (compared with 10.8%), and night sweats 48.6% (compared with 5.3%). Possible Lupron-induced hypertension that required drug treatment was discovered in 7.04% of the population. Subjective analysis revealed improvement in patient satisfaction with the program.
Conclusion: Patient education and follow-up programs are essential to improve patient outcomes. These programs also add to our understanding of adverse effects of medications.