Medication Formulation Preference of Mild and Moderate Ulcerative Colitis Patients: a European Survey

Abstract

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Patient adherence is a major challenge for the successful management of any chronic disease, and ulcerative colitis (UC) is no exception. Patient adherence is closely related to patient preference of medication and formulation used. <b><i>Aim:</i></b> The aim of this study was to investigate patient and physician perspectives around UC treatment preference. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> This study was conducted in France, Germany, Spain, and the UK. Physicians and UK inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) nurses answered an online questionnaire. In addition, adult mild-to-moderate UC patients, treated with oral mesalazine, were invited to answer a 30-min online survey which included a conjoint exercise. <b><i>Results:</i></b> 400 patients, 160 physicians, and 20 IBD nurses participated in the survey. 68% of patients were taking tablets and 32% granules. Physicians stated that from their perspective patients are more adherent to tablets than granules (76% vs. 24%), patients tended to have better relief of symptoms with tablets (69% vs. 31%), and patients found tablets to be the most convenient formulation (61% vs. 39%). From the patients’ perspective, when questioned which formulation they prefer, 58% answered tablets, 37% granules, and 5% none of these. When patients were asked about some negative attributes of tablets, the highest agreement was for “I would like to take fewer each day” (6.1/10) and “I wish I could take fewer at a time” (5.4/10). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> The majority of UC patients in this survey prefer the tablet formulation. A high strength tablet overcoming the high pill burden could be a good solution to address patient expectations.