Qualitative Study of Topical Mesalamine Adherence in Patients With Ulcerative Colitis(UC)

• Prevalence of "non-persistence" amongst patients prescribed topical mesalamine for UC [ Time Frame: 12 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  

• Clinical outcome (remission / relapse) at 12 months grouped by persistence status [ Time Frame: 12 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Clinical outcome (remission / relapse) based on Simple Colitis Activity Index Score
  
  
• Adherence phenotype details [ Time Frame: 12 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • Prevalence of self-reported "low adherence" amongst patients prescribed topical mesalamine
  • Demographic and disease phenotype variables associated with "non persistence" or "low adherence" using multivariate logistic regression analysis
  
  
• Quality-of-life score at 12 months [ Time Frame: 12 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire score at 12 months
  
  

Patient adherence with topical mesalamine is low. Behavioral and psycho-social barriers to topical mesalamine adherence exist in patients with UC. These factors can be identified using qualitative testing in order to develop and design appropriate behavioral interventions to reduce non-adherence.

The investigators will undertake an observational study of medication persistence in 100 patients in the BIDMC clinic, "Persistence Cohort". Persistence will be measured using 12-month pharmacy refill data. The investigators will also employ a qualitative research design with discrete choice modeling in two phases: Phase I - Initial Interviews with 10 patients and Phase II - Focus Groups (2) with 5 patients each.