Behavioral Contract Adherence Intervention

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Renal Transplantation

Interventions: Behavioral: Behavioral Contract

Registration Number: NCT01739803

Lead Sponsor: University of Tennessee

Brief Summary: There is a critical gap in the knowledge on how to implement effective interventions for renal transplant recipients (RTRs) to improve immunosuppressant therapy (IST) adherence and clinical outcomes. The objectives of this project were to address this gap through: (1) designing, implementing, and evaluating a patient-specific behavioral contract intervention to improve RTRs' IST adherence rates (contracts are written, signed agreements between the RTR and healthcare provider in which the RTR agrees to be adherent to IST according to mutually agreed upon criteria); and (2) measuring the effects of IST adherence on RTRs' health-related quality of life (HQoL) and healthcare utilizations and costs. The primary hypothesis was that at one year post trial enrollment, RTRs who establish behavioral contracts with healthcare professionals will be more adherent than those who do not establish behavioral contracts and subsequently will have greater HQoL and lower healthcare utilizations and costs. Once it is better understood how to implement effective IST adherence intervention programs, clinicians will have a valuable tool to promote therapeutic success, improve HQoL, and reduce healthcare utilizations and costs. Therefore, we pursued the following Specific Aims: (1) determine the effectiveness of an IST adherence contract-based intervention on IST adherence; (2) determine the relationship between IST adherence, the intervention, and RTRs' HQoL; and (3) determine the influence of IST adherence and the intervention on RTRs' healthcare utilizations/costs. To achieve the Specific Aims, a randomized controlled trial of the patient-specific behavioral contract-based intervention was conducted, and data regarding adherence, HQoL, and healthcare utilizations/costs were collected over a 12-month period for each RTR study participant and analyzed. This project will promote healthy lives, increase well-being, and reduce burden of illness and disparity among adult RTRs by providing data regarding an adherence intervention and the impact of IST adherence and the behavioral contract intervention on RTRs' health and economic outcomes and HQoL. Collectively, this new knowledge will provide critical steps toward optimizing RTRs' graft maintenance, productivity, and HQoL, while decreasing graft rejection, return to dialysis, morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs.

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 150

Inclusion Criteria

renal transplant recipient
at least 21 years of age
receive an immunosuppressant regimen that contains oral cyclosporine or tacrolimus
be at least one year post-transplant
obtain immunosuppressant therapy from Avella Specialty Pharmacy for at least one year prior to study enrollment and during the study period

Exclusion Criteria

pregnant
prisoner
institutionalized
unable to give informed consent

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Intervention Group	Behavioral Contract	Behavioral contract intervention

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Comparison of Average Immunosuppressant Therapy Adherence for 12-month Study Period	12 months	Immunosuppressant therapy adherence as measured by pharmacy refill records. Adherence was calculated quarterly for one year by using the number of days between prescription (IST) refills. If the total number of days between refills was less than or equal to the total days' supply of IST, the participant's adherence rate was 1.0, or 100%. If the number of days between refills was greater than the days' supply, the adherence rate was calculated as follows: 1 - \[(Days Between Refills - Total Days Supply)/Days Between Refills\] = Adherence Rate for Quarterly Time Period At the end of the 12-month study period, the quarterly adherence rates were averaged to produce an overall adherence rate for the study period.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Health-related Quality of Life (HQoL)	12 months	The EQ-5D is a multi-attribute, preference-based HQoL instrument. Considered a global HQoL measure, the EQ-5D is a descriptive system that classifies respondents into one of 243 distinct health states based on five dimensions (i.e., mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression). Each dimension has three levels, reflecting "no problems," "some problems," and "extreme problems." A scoring function assigns a value (EQ-5DIndex score) to self-reported health states from a set of preference weights that have been empirically derived. The EQ-5D's total scale (preference value) range is from 0 to 1.0. On this scale, the preference value of 1.0 represents perfect health and 0.0 represents death. Preference values less than 0 are possible, but not reflected on the scale, and reflect health states that the U.S. population consider worse than death.
Days in Hospital	12 months	We used a standardized patient reporting approach to collect direct healthcare utilizations data, including days in hospital. A brief healthcare screening questionnaire was administered to both the intervention and control groups on a monthly basis during the one-year study period. Monthly recall periods were chosen to minimize bias and forgetfulness. The questionnaire collected the number of times each month a participant utilized a direct medical service, specifically, days in hospital, emergency department (ED) visit, outpatient visit (clinic, physician office), and home healthcare visit. Analysis compared proportion of each group who had at least one day in hospital during the 12-month study period.