Medication Nonadherence and Associated Factors among Heart Failure Patients at University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia

Mohammed Assen Seid; Husien Nurahmed Toleha; Faisel Dula Sema

doi:10.1155/2023/1824987

Medication Nonadherence and Associated Factors among Heart Failure Patients at University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia

Int J Chronic Dis. 2023 Jan 14:2023:1824987. doi: 10.1155/2023/1824987. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Mohammed Assen Seid¹, Husien Nurahmed Toleha², Faisel Dula Sema¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Ethiopia.
² Department of Social and Administrative Pharmacy, Wollo University, Ethiopia.

Abstract

Background: Medication nonadherence, being one of the best predictors of hospitalization, increases the mortality rate and hospital readmission and reduces the quality of life of heart failure (HF) patients. Therefore, this study is aimed at assessing medication nonadherence and associated factors among HF patients at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 245 adult patients with HF from June to August 2017. The data were collected by using the medication Adherence Report Scale (MARS-5) and then entered and analyzed using SPSS® (IBM Corporation) version 24. Summary statistics were presented using frequency, proportion, and mean. Binary logistic regression analysis was done for identifying factors associated with medication nonadherence with a 95% confidence level and p value of less than 0.05.

Results: Among 245 patients with HF, about a quarter (23.7%) of them were medication nonadherent. More than one-third (37%) of HF patients had a history of at least one HF medication discontinuation. Refilling problems (48%) and getting better from the illness (27%) were the most commonly reported reasons for nonadherence. Presence of comorbidity (AOR = 2.761; 95%CI = 1.364, 5.589), taking three or more types of medication (AOR = 2.805; 95%CI = 1.404, 5.60), and being unmarried (AOR = 2.638, 95%CI = 1.279, 5.443) was significantly associated with medication nonadherence.

Conclusion: The self-reported medication nonadherence among HF patients was considerably high. Refilling problems and getting better from the illness were the most commonly reported reasons for nonadherence. The presence of comorbid illness, taking three or more types of medication, and being unmarried was significantly associated factors of medication nonadherence. Awareness creation among patients on the importance of medication adherence and targeted efforts to assess and mitigate reasons for medication nonadherence may be helpful.