Revista Portuguesa de Farmacoterapia (Apr 2016)

Adherence to Antibiotic Therapy in the Algarve Region

  • Isabel Ramalhinho,
  • Clara Cordeiro ,
  • Afonso Cavaco,
  • José Cabrita

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 2
pp. 9 – 19

Abstract

Read online

Introduction: The non-adherence to antibiotic therapy, including omission of doses and change of dose interval, may lead to reduced levels of antibiotic plasma concentrations that are insufficient to inhibit the replication of microorganisms, but nevertheless high enough to exert selective pressure. As a consequence, non-adherence to therapeutic can lead to poor therapeutic results and to the emergence of resistant microorganisms, and these may play an important role in antimicrobial resistance, as the overuse of antibiotics. This study aims to evaluate the level of adherence to antimicrobial therapy instituted in the population of the Algarve, in the three months prior to the interview, investigating their relationship with the social demographic characteristics and information received on antibiotics. Material and Methods: This is an observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study, which studied adherence to therapy in the adult population of the Algarve Region. To achieve this purpose, we developed a questionnaire for assessing the level of adherence to antimicrobial therapy administered in the ninety days preceding the questionnaire. The survey was distributed in town hall, supermarkets, hotels, municipal markets, restaurants, sports groups and seniors Universities. Bivariate analyses were performed using the Chi-square and Fisher exact tests. The level of statistical significance was established whenever p < 0.05. The statistical analysis was conducted using the SPSS software v. 21. Results: A total of 1192 respondents were included in the study, where 48.7% were male. The participants’ mean age was 46.6 years. Most of them received information on the dosage of the antibiotic. However, of 227 respondents, 57.3% reported they have not been informed about possible adverse reactions and of 230 respondents, 40.6% said they have not been informed about taking care of the administration of antibiotics. To study adherence to treatment, the respondents were asked if they had taken antibiotics in the three months prior to completing the questionnaire. Two hundred and fifty nine of the respondents (21.7%) answered affirmatively. It should be noted that among 247 of the respondents, 36 (14.6%) partially fulfilled or not fulfilled the recommendations, regarding the number of days of drug administration. The biggest difficulty was following the recommendations regarding the interval between doses, as 59 respondents (25%) reported that partially fulfilled or not fulfilled. Conclusions: The data show the importance of some determinants in adherence to antimicrobial therapy, and the need for intervention in specific groups in order to improve adherence to therapy.

Keywords