Use of digital health technology tool to assess medication adherence in schizophrenia: the INTERACT study experience

Nonadherence to study medication is a significant issue in schizophrenia clinical trials. Individuals with schizophrenia often struggle with nonadherence, and standard compliance methods like pill counts tend to be overreported. This influences the sponsor's ability to properly interpret study efficacy and safety signals.
One recommended strategy to improve adherence is using electronic monitoring methods. For participants with schizophrenia, interventions that encourage adherent behaviors are beneficial as nonadherent behaviors are common in this population. Recently, a computer vision tool (Platform) has been developed to monitor study medication intake behaviors on a per-dose basis.
Evidence suggests that deploying this computer vision monitoring positively influences overall study adherence. Participants with schizophrenia in a clinical trial setting being monitored by the Platform tended to have higher adherence as measured by pharmacokinetics (PK) than those without monitoring. Additionally, Platform monitoring can improve the ability to identify nonadherent behaviors in need of intervention.
The findings show that the Platform, through its daily interactions, appears to encourage adherent behavior. This raises important questions regarding the information gap in assessing adherence when relying on less frequent aggregate measures like pill counts or PK-related measures.