Oral and written counseling is a useful instrument to improve short-term adherence to treatment in acne patients: a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic success in acne patients not only depends on the appropriate selection of drugs but also on the patient’s treatment adherence or compliance. Lack of adherence is an important problem both in general medicine and in dermatologic practice. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of oral and written counseling on treatment adherence among acne patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eighty patients were randomized into two groups of 40 patients each. The intervention group received a patient information leaflet (apart from oral counseling), and instructions were reinforced by a telephone call within 15 days of treatment onset. The second group (control group) received treatment indications as usual (oral counseling in-office only). Both groups were followed up with a phone call, evaluating adherence to treatment according to self-reporting of patients at 30, 60, 90 days, and 6 months. RESULTS: Better adherence to treatment was observed in the intervention group. This difference was significant only within the first month of treatment (80% versus 62%, p = 0.043). The beneficial effect of written counseling plus a phone call decreased in subsequent months. CONCLUSION: Written counseling significantly improves adherence within the first month of treatment. These results suggest that it is reasonable to spend time and resources in written counseling in order to optimize adherence to treatment.