Research Project
9046886
? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In the US, there are over 25,000 pediatric recipients of organs every year. To prevent organ rejection, these patients must strictly adhere to treatment programs that require a combination of immunosuppressants and steroids that must be taken throughout the day and must be taken for the rest of their lives. Adolescence is a time period when patients are often tasked with taking on greater responsibility for their care as they transition to adulthood and adult-based medical care settings. However, current research indicates that adolescents are the least adherent group to their post-transplant medication regimen with rates reported as high as nearly 2/3 of this population. These high rates of medication non-adherence have significant implications for health outcomes and the concomitant financial cost of medical care. For example, adolescent kidney transplant recipients have lower graft survival rates at 3 and 5 years post-transplant of any age group except the elderly. Non-adherence can result in rejection episodes, increased hospitalizations and frequency of medical follow-ups, and death. Thus, maintaining adherence is critical not only for the transition to adulthood but for long-term health and quality of life. Improving Medical Prescription Adherence by Leveraging Mobile Technology (iMedPAL) provides a novel, multifaceted approach to addressing medication non-adherence and ultimately improving health outcomes for the adolescent transplant-recipient population. Vivonics is partnered with the Transplant Center at Children's Hospital Boston for demonstrating the clinical feasibility of the iMedPAL system. To assess the marketability of the iMedPAL system for use by the proposed targeted population and beyond, we are working with e-Pill, LCC the leading distributor of medical devices designed to improve Patient Compliance and Medication Adherence in the US.
