Hyphenated mass spectrometry techniques for assessing medication adherence: advantages, challenges, clinical applications and future perspectives

Nonadherence to prescribed pharmacotherapy is an understated public health problem globally and is costing many patients their chance to return to good health and healthcare systems billions. Clinicians need an accurate assessment of adherence to medications to aid the clinical decision-making process in the event of poor patient progress and to maximize the patient health outcomes from the drug therapies prescribed. An overview of indirect and direct methods used to measure medication adherence is presented, highlighting the potential for accurate measuring of drugs in biological samples using hyphenated mass spectrometry techniques to provide healthcare professionals with a reliable evidence base for clinical decision making. In this review we summarise published applications of hyphenated mass spectrometry techniques for a diverse range of clinical areas demonstrating the rise in the use of such direct methods for assessing medication adherence. Although liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methods using plasma, serum and urine samples are the most popular, in recent years increased attention has been given to liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry methods and alternative biosample matrices including hair, saliva and blood microsamples. The advantages and challenges of using hyphenated mass spectrometry techniques to address this healthcare problem are also discussed alongside future perspectives.