Necessity and concerns about lipid-lowering medical treatments and risk factors for non-adherence: A cross-sectional study in Palestine
Date
2020-04-06
Authors
Shakarneh, Jihad K.
Hallak, Hussein O.
Awadallah, Heba B.
Al-Hamed, Dua'a H.
Khdour, Maher R.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Abstract
Aims: Strong evidence indicates that drugs reduce blood lipids and improve cardiovascular
end-points, leading to their wide usage. However, the success of these drugs
can be affected by poor patient's adherence to prescribed medication. This study
aimed to evaluate medication adherence in patients with dyslipidaemia in association
with patient beliefs about medicines.
Methods: The study was conducted from January 2019 to July 2019 at the middle
governmental primary healthcare clinics in Ramallah and Bethlehem cities, and
used a cross-sectional design. Adherence was determined using the 4-item Morisky
medication adherence scale, while beliefs were determined using the Beliefs about
Medicines Questionnaire.
Results: Of 220 patients, 185 agreed to participate in the study, resulting in a response
rate of 84.1%. Of the participants, 106 (57.3%) were men, and almost half (88,
46.5%) were ≥56 years. Medication non-adherence was high (47.6%), but a majority
(65.5%) reported believing their treatment to be necessary for their continued good
health. Accordingly, the mean necessity score (17.3, SD 3.7) significantly outweighed
(P < .001) the mean concerns score (14.0, SD 3.5). Multivariate regression demonstrated
four variables to be significantly correlated with non-adherence: illiterate
(OR = 2.52; CI: 0.9-4.3; P = .03), polypharmacy (OR = 3.18; CI: 1.9-5.7; P = .007),
having comorbidity (OR = 3.10; CI: 2.2-4.6; P = .005) and having concerns about side
effects (OR = 2.89; CI: 1.1-4.6, P = .04).
Conclusion: Non-adherence among patients taking lipid-lowering agents was high despite
most holding positive beliefs regarding medication necessity. This may be due to
concern also being high. Physicians should identify and target high-risk patients and individualise
their treatment plans in order to achieve adequate control of dyslipidaemia.
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Citation
Shakarneh JK, Hallak HO, Awadallah HB, Al-Hamed DH, Khdour MR. Necessity and concerns about lipid-lowering medical treatments and risk factors for non-adherence: A cross-sectional study in Palestine. Int J Clin Pract. 2020;00:e13511. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcp.13511