Improving Medication Adherence in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease

The purpose of the study is to test the efficacy of a telehealth behavioral treatment (TBT) protocol to improve medication adherence in children and adolescents with IBD via a randomized controlled clinical trial. Participants in the TBT condition will be compared to those in an education only (EO) condition. In order to examine clinical significance of the intervention, treatment outcomes will include disease severity, HRQOL, and health care utilization. This randomized controlled clinical trial for nonadherence to medication randomizes participants to either the TBT or EO intervention condition, with assessments occurring at baseline, post-treatment, and 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up. Both conditions will participate in a self-guided educational intervention during week 6 of enrollment, with three intervention sessions at weeks 8, 10, and 12. A 4-week run-in phase immediately preceding randomization is utilized to establish participants' baseline adherence. Assessments will occur at week 5 (Baseline Assessment 1), week 14 (Post-treatment Assessment 2), and 3-, 6-, and 12-month post-treatment follow-up (Assessments 3, 4, and 5). Intervention topics will differ for each condition; however, the frequency of contact is equivalent across conditions.