Compliance and Adherence to Enteral Nutrition Treatment in Adults: A Systematic Review

Objective: To review the scientific literature that has verified and/or assessed compliance and adherence to enteral nutrition (EN) in adult patients. Method: This study involved a critical analysis of articles retrieved from MEDLINE (PubMed), The Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus and Web of Science using the terms “Treatment Adherence and Compliance” and “Enteral Nutrition”, applying the filters “Comparative Study” or “Clinical Trial”, “Humans” and “Adults”. Date of the search: 25 October 2018. Results: A total of 512 references were retrieved, of which 23 documents were selected after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The techniques measuring adherence to EN were determined by dietary intake, self-reporting, counts of leftover containers or presence of complications; however, in no case were validated questionnaires used. The time and periodicity of the assessment presented very heterogeneous results, with measurement predominantly being done at the beginning and at the end of the study. The best adherence rates were obtained in hospitalized patients (approximately 80%). Conclusions: Frequent and regular monitoring of the adherence of patients under prolonged treatment with EN is necessary, and the use of measurement techniques that allow obtaining information on the causes of non-adherence facilitates early interventions to optimize treatment outcomes. Patient and/or caregiver education in the management of EN and the intervention of the community pharmacy in monitoring patients can be key to improving the adherence to EN.