Improving medication adherence in patients with lupus nephritis

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with kidney involvement run a high risk of end-stage kidney disease—reaching levels as high as 10% at 10 years—that is partially explained by nonadherence. As with many other chronic diseases, nonadherence to treatment is the rule and perfect adherence the exception. Thus, a Canadian study assessing primary nonadherence in various conditions found that as many as 31% of the 37,506 first prescriptions were never collected from the pharmacy within 9 months.