Methods to assess COPD medications adherence in healthcare databases: a systematic review.

"Conflict of interest: Outside this manuscript, J.K. Quint received grants paid to her institution from the Medical Research Council, Health Data Research UK, GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, Asthma + Lung UK and AstraZeneca, and consulting fees from GlaxoSmithKline, Evidera, AstraZeneca and Insmed. None of which are related to the content of this work. Outside this manuscript, K. Verhamme received unconditional research grants paid to her institution from Chiesi, Amgen, Union Chimique Belge (UCB), Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). None of which are related to the content of this work. Outside this manuscript, L. Lahousse received a consulting fee paid to her institution from AstraZeneca and honoraria for lectures paid to her institution from Chiesi and IPSA vzw, a non-profit organisation facilitating lifelong learning for healthcare providers. L. Lahousse is an unpaid member of European Respiratory Society and Belgian Respiratory Society, member of Faculty board of Ghent University – Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and faculty committees. None of which are related to the content of this work. All other authors declare no competing interests."

"Conflict of interest: Outside this manuscript, J.K. Quint received grants paid to her institution from the Medical Research Council, Health Data Research UK, GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, Asthma + Lung UK and AstraZeneca, and consulting fees from GlaxoSmithKline, Evidera, AstraZeneca and Insmed. None of which are related to the content of this work. Outside this manuscript, K. Verhamme received unconditional research grants paid to her institution from Chiesi, Amgen, Union Chimique Belge (UCB), Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). None of which are related to the content of this work. Outside this manuscript, L. Lahousse received a consulting fee paid to her institution from AstraZeneca and honoraria for lectures paid to her institution from Chiesi and IPSA vzw, a non-profit organisation facilitating lifelong learning for healthcare providers. L. Lahousse is an unpaid member of European Respiratory Society and Belgian Respiratory Society, member of Faculty board of Ghent University – Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and faculty committees. None of which are related to the content of this work. All other authors declare no competing interests."

"This systematic review was reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 guidelines [] and the Synthesis Without Meta-Analysis guideline []. The protocol of this study was registered on PROSPERO [] (registration number CRD42022363449). Method:: We searched MEDLINE, Web of Science and Embase for peer-reviewed articles evaluating adherence to COPD medication in electronic databases, written in English, published up to 11 October 2022 (PROSPERO identifier CRD42022363449). Two reviewers independently conducted screening for inclusion and performed data extraction. Methods to assess initiation (dispensing of medication after prescribing), implementation (extent of use over a specific time period) and/or persistence (time from initiation to discontinuation) were listed descriptively. Each included study was evaluated for reporting variables with an impact on adherence assessment: inpatient stays, drug substitution, dose switching and early refills."