Adherence and awareness of the therapeutic intent of oral anticancer agents in an outpatient setting

The aim of the present study was to clarify the adherence and awareness of oral anticancer agents by type and therapeutic purpose in outpatients prescribed with tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil potassium (S-1) or capecitabine. Outpatients undergoing treatment with the S-1 or capecitabine oral anticancer agents at Ogaki Municipal Hospital (Ogaki, Japan) in June 2013 completed a questionnaire survey and the survey findings were evaluated. No significant differences in medication adherence were identified between the patients administered S-1 and the patients administered capecitabine (P=0.4586). In addition, no significant differences were identified in therapeutic purpose between adjuvant therapy, and advanced and recurrent therapies. However, for S-1 and capecitabine, medication adherence was significantly higher in those undergoing combination therapy compared with those undergoing monotherapy (P=0.0046). In addition, for patients taking S-1, the median age for good adherence was significantly lower than that for insufficient adherence (66.1 +/- 10.5 vs. 72.1 +/- 7.9 years, respectively; P=0.0035). Furthermore, a significant negative correlation was identified between the awareness score of research regarding the medication and age (n=109; P=0.0045). In conclusion, for patients treated with S-1 or capecitabine, the type and therapeutic purpose of oral anticancer agents did not affect medication adherence. Elderly patients expressed a low interest in medications and typically exhibited insufficient medication adherence. Therefore, patient guidance by pharmacists is important, as it may result in improved medication adherence and an improved understanding of the treatment side-effects in patients self-administering prescribed drugs.