Determinants of compliance with methylphenidate therapy in children

AIM: To get more insight into factors that influence compliance with the use of methylphenidate. METHODS: 22 pharmacies detected children who used methylphenidate. Their parents were sent a questionnaire on the use of methylphenidate. In a case-control study, the influence of patient- and drug-related factors on compliance, as reported by parents, was determined. RESULTS: Parents returned 117 (75%) of 157 questionnaires sent out. Of these, 47.8% of the children missed a dose two times a month or more. Forgetting to take the medication (87.9%) was the most important reason. The case-control study showed that children of 16-18 y were more likely to miss doses. Other patient- and drug-related factors did not influence the missing of doses. CONCLUSION: A number of known determinants for compliance do not influence the missing of doses of methylphenidate. With about 80% of the parents reporting that their child missed doses of methylphenidate less than 5 times per month, compliance was quite good for the majority of the children.