Factors Associated with Medication Adherence Among Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients

Background

Poor medication adherence among Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients can lead to higher costs and worse health outcomes. The study aimed to examine medication adherence patterns and the factors influencing them in patients with COPD.

Method

This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at Out Patient Department of Universal College of Medical Sciences (UCMS), Bhairahawa, Nepal from 25th February 2023 to 24th August 2023. Patients having age ≥18 years of either sex. and diagnosed with COPD were included in this study and purposive sampling method was used. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee of UCMS with reference number (Ref. No. UCMS/IRC/204/22). A validated structured questionnaire was used to collect the data and Statistical analysis performed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.

Results

Out of 175 patients enrolled in this study, 53.7% had a medium level, 30.9% had a high level, and 15.4% had a low level of medication adherence. The chi square test showed that medication adherence pattern was significantly associated with age (p=0.03), education status (p=0.047), number of medications (p=0.02), medication cost (p<0.001) and information provided about their medication (p=0.03). About 56.6% of patients had missed the dose and the major reason was forgetfulness (41.9%). Most of the patients had discontinued their medication due to symptomatic relief (32.6%).

Conclusion

Factors affecting low adherence included the number of medications, age, education level, and cost. Further research should be conducted to enhance patient education among COPD patients and increase medication adherence.