Impact of Introducing the Pletaal Assist System on Drug Adherence in Outpatients with Ischaemic Stroke: A Pilot Study

PURPOSE: The effectiveness of Electronic Medication Packaging devices for monitoring drug adherence has been widely reported. However, conventional devices are expensive for routine use and cannot confirm whether the medication was administered. We aimed to determine, in a pilot and feasibility study, the impact of introducing a new medication support device, the Pletaal Assist System(®), to monitor and improve cilostazol adherence for stroke prevention at an outpatient clinic. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We assessed consecutive patients treated with cilostazol for >3 months at our stroke outpatient clinic from January 2018 to March 2020. The adherence rate was assessed as follows: (the number of pills prescribed minus the number of remaining pills)/the number of pills prescribed. We compared the adherence rates before, during, and after Pletaal Assist System(®) usage, respectively. RESULTS: Overall, 25 patients (median age, 68.5 years; range, 51–86 years; male, 64%) were enrolled. All participants were prescribed cilostazol (100 mg) twice a day. There was no significant difference in the adherence rate among the three periods. However, in 10 patients with adherence rate below 100%, the adherence rate during Pletaal Assist System(®) usage was higher than before usage (99.5% vs 95%, p=0.04), and the rate after using the Pletaal Assist System(®) tended to be lower compared to the rate during usage (99.5% vs 96%, p=0.05). CONCLUSION: Our preliminary evidence suggest that the Pletaal Assist System(®) could further improve cilostazol adherence in outpatients with poor drug adherence and may reduce the risk of recurrent strokes by improving adherence of patients with a history of stroke.