Nonadherence to antiasthmatic medications and its predictors among asthmatic patients in public hospitals of Bahir Dar City, North West Ethiopia: using ASK-12 tool

Teshome Bitew Demelash; Getahun Asmamaw; Liknaw Workie Limenh; Yeniewa Kerie Anagaw; Wudneh Simegn; Wondim Ayenew

doi:10.1186/s40733-023-00091-1

Nonadherence to antiasthmatic medications and its predictors among asthmatic patients in public hospitals of Bahir Dar City, North West Ethiopia: using ASK-12 tool

Asthma Res Pract. 2023 May 4;9(1):2. doi: 10.1186/s40733-023-00091-1.

Authors

Teshome Bitew Demelash¹, Getahun Asmamaw², Liknaw Workie Limenh³, Yeniewa Kerie Anagaw⁴, Wudneh Simegn⁵, Wondim Ayenew⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmaceutics and Social Pharmacy, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
² Department of Pharmacy, Arba Minch University, Arba Minch, Ethiopia.
³ Department of Pharmaceutics, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
⁴ Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
⁵ Department of Social and Administrative Pharmacy, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
⁶ Department of Social and Administrative Pharmacy, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia. yimesgen20@gmail.com.

Abstract

Background: Globally, adequate asthma control is not yet achieved. The main cause of uncontrollability is nonadherence to prescribed medications.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to assess asthmatic patients' non-adherence to anti-asthmatic medications and the predictors associated with non-adherence.

Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted in three governmental hospitals in Bahir Dar city from September 5 to December 12, 2021. The data was collected using the Adherence Starts with Knowledge-12 tool (ASK-12). Systematic random sampling was applied to select study participants. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify predictors of non-adherence. All statistical tests were analyzed using STATA version 16. P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results: A total of 422 asthmatic patients were included in the study. Most of the study participants (55.4%) did not adhere to their prescribed anti-asthmatic medicines. The educational status of the study participants (AOR = 0.03, 95% CI = 0.00-0.05), family history of asthma (AOR = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.04-0.21), and disease duration that the patients were living with (AOR = 0.01, 95% CI = 0.00-0.01) were the predictors of non-adherence to anti-asthmatic medications.

Conclusions: The level of nonadherence to treatment among patients with asthma was high. Religion, educational status of study participants, family history of asthma, and duration of the disease were the predictors of non-adherence of asthmatic patients to their antiasthmatic medications. Therefore, the Ministry of health, health policy makers, clinicians, and other healthcare providers should pay attention to strengthening the adherence level to antiasthmatic medications, and country-based interventions should be developed to reduce the burden of non-adherence to anti-asthmatic medications.

Keywords: Asthma; Bahir Dar; Ethiopia; Non-adherence.