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Supporting Adherence to Pirfenidone in Patients With Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Study Purpose

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an irreversible, chronic and relentless lung disorder of unknown aetiology leading ultimately to respiratory insufficiency and death within 2-5 years after diagnosis. Treatment with the anti-fibrotic drug Pirfenidone slows down the disease progression and reduces the risk of acute exacerbations. Unfortunately, Pirfenidone represents a complex pharmacological regimen, in which patients have to take 3 tablets 3 times a day at mealtime. As for all chronically ill patients, adherence to a complex regimen might be challenging and nonadherence might reduce the full potential of Pirfenidone in patients with IPF. Due to extremely sparse availability of evidence on treatment adherence in the IPF population, it needs to be fully ascertained if, why, when and how many patients discontinue treatment or struggle to correctly take Pirfenidone as prescribed.

Recruitment Criteria

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Healthy volunteers are participants who do not have a disease or condition, or related conditions or symptoms

Unknown
Study Type

An interventional clinical study is where participants are assigned to receive one or more interventions (or no intervention) so that researchers can evaluate the effects of the interventions on biomedical or health-related outcomes.


An observational clinical study is where participants identified as belonging to study groups are assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.


Searching Both is inclusive of interventional and observational studies.

Observational
Eligible Ages 18 Years and Over
Gender All
More Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • - Clinical diagnosis of IPF based on the 2011 ATS/ERS/JRS/LATA diagnostic criteria.
  • - Patients who will start treatment with pirfenidone.
  • - Patients of 18 years or older.
  • - Oral fluency in Dutch or French.
  • - Being able to provide written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • - Patients not managing their medications independently (e.g. Institutionalized patients, patients living in a nursing home or patients receiving homecare from a nurse).
However, patients receiving help to prepare their medication from informal caregivers (i.e. family) are allowed to participate in the study.
  • - Patients not having their follow-up consultations at the University hospitals of Leuven.

Trial Details

Trial ID:

This trial id was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, providing information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants with locations in all 50 States and in 196 countries.

NCT03567785
Phase

Phase 1: Studies that emphasize safety and how the drug is metabolized and excreted in humans.

Phase 2: Studies that gather preliminary data on effectiveness (whether the drug works in people who have a certain disease or condition) and additional safety data.

Phase 3: Studies that gather more information about safety and effectiveness by studying different populations and different dosages and by using the drug in combination with other drugs.

Phase 4: Studies occurring after FDA has approved a drug for marketing, efficacy, or optimal use.

Lead Sponsor

The sponsor is the organization or person who oversees the clinical study and is responsible for analyzing the study data.

KU Leuven
Principal Investigator

The person who is responsible for the scientific and technical direction of the entire clinical study.

Wim Wuyts
Principal Investigator Affiliation Catholic University Leuven
Agency Class

Category of organization(s) involved as sponsor (and collaborator) supporting the trial.

Other
Overall Status Recruiting
Countries Belgium
Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied.

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, Pulmonary Fibrosis
Additional Details

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an irreversible, chronic and relentless lung disorder of unknown aetiology characterised by a progressive destruction of lung parenchyma leading ultimately to respiratory insufficiency and death within 2-5 years after diagnosis. Treatment with the anti-fibrotic drug Pirfenidone slows down the disease progression and reduces the risk of acute exacerbations. Evidence also showed that treatment with Pirfenidone should be continued lifelong to maximise outcomes even in patients who experience disease progression during therapy. Unfortunately, Pirfenidone represents a complex pharmacological regimen, in which patients have to take 3 tablets 3 times a day at mealtime with a titration period in the first 3 weeks (i.e. 3 times 1 tablet of 267 mg during the first week, 3 times 2 tablets during the second week, and 3 times 3 tablets a week from week 3 onwards). As for all chronically ill patients, adherence to a complex regimen might be challenging and nonadherence might reduce the full potential of Pirfenidone in patients with IPF. Adherence is defined as "the extent to which a person' s behaviour

  • - taking medication, following a diet, and/or executing lifestyle changes, corresponds with agreed recommendations from a health care provider"(WHO, 2003) and encompasses three phases namely, initiation, implementation and persistence.
Due to extremely sparse availability of evidence on treatment adherence in the IPF population, it needs to be fully ascertained if, why, when and how many patients discontinue treatment or struggle to correctly take Pirfenidone as prescribed. Furthermore, the investigators also don't know what the impact is of non-adherence to Pirfenidone on clinical outcomes in patients with IPF and whether good adherence is associated with a better health related quality of life.

Contact a Trial Team

If you are interested in learning more about this trial, find the trial site nearest to your location and contact the site coordinator via email or phone. We also strongly recommend that you consult with your healthcare provider about the trials that may interest you and refer to our terms of service below.

International Sites

University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, BE, Belgium

Status

Recruiting

Address

University Hospitals Leuven

Leuven, BE, 3000

Site Contact

anouk delameillieure

anouk.delameillieure@kuleuven.be

+32 16 34 68 02