Number of Daily Doses Does Not Affect Compliance with Flucloxacillin Prescriptions

Objective: To achieve optimal effect with beta-lactam antibiotics, regimens with frequent dosages have been found necessary. However, if compliance is negatively influenced by more frequent dosages, this might hamper the effect of the treatments. Therefore, we have studied whether the numbers of daily dosages influence the compliance with prescribed flucloxacillin regimens. Design: A prospective interview study of patients with different dosing regimens of flucloxacillin. Setting: In the study, 200 patients with different dosing regimens of flucloxacillin underwent structured telephone interviews in order to reveal their compliance with the medication. Of these, 13 were prescribed twice-daily doses, 163 three times daily and 24 patients four times daily regimens. Results: There were no statistically significant differences between missed doses and prescribed numbers of daily doses. There was, however, a significant difference in the number of daily doses and experiences associated with the medication. Conclusions: This study shows that patients comply well with regimens of up to four daily doses of flucloxacillin, despite experiencing increasing difficulties with regimens of more frequent dosages.