adherence; infliximab; immune-mediated inflammatory diseases

Infliximab therapy is effective in controlling symptoms and attaining clinical remission of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases; however, treatment adherence is essential to achieve the therapeutic objective. This study aimed to determine the rate of adherence to infliximab treatment in patients treated at an infusion center at a university hospital. Method: This ambispective cohort study included patients treated at the HUPES infusion center of our university hospital between March 2022 and February 2023. Sociodemographic, clinical, and pharmacotherapeutic data were collected from patients through interviews and medical record reviews using a structured form. The adherence rate was defined as the proportion of days covered in a year. Patients who achieved an adherence rate >80% were considered adherent. Results: The treatment adherence rate was 91.04%. Individuals with inflammatory bowel diseases had a 39.1% higher risk of non-adherence to treatment compared with other patients. Most patients achieved remission or control of the underlying disease activity and had good functional capacities and quality-of-life indices. The main reason for absence on the scheduled date was difficulty traveling to the infusion center.Conclusions: Despite the reported difficulties, treatment adherence was observed to be high. As the study was conducted in a reference unit with multidisciplinary care and continuous monitoring for treatment effectiveness, safety, and adherence, welcoming and good communication between professionals and patients may have contributed to the high adherence rate.