حیات (Sep 2015)
Medication Adherence and Related Factors in Patients with Epilepsy
Abstract
Background & Aim: Medication adherence affects the outcome of treatment in patients with epilepsy. Non adherence to the antiepileptic drugs in patients may result in exacerbation of seizure frequencies, higher health-care system costs and higher risk of morbidity and mortality . This study aimed to assess the medication adherence and its related factors in patients with epilepsy . Methods & Materials: In this cross-sectional study, we recruited 120 patients with epilepsy from the Iran Epilepsy Association using purposive sampling method. Data were gathered using a demographic checklist and the Morisky’s modified medication adherence questionnaire. Data were analyzed in the SPSS-16 . Results: A total of 87.5%, 10.8% and 1.7% of the patients showed high, medium and low adherences, respectively. Being seizure-free for a period of time was the most cited reason of non-adherence (8.3%). There was a statistically significant relationship between the number of drugs and seizures with the medication adherence (P<0.05). The older people had more adherences to their medications. The patients, who had higher adherences, had experienced fewer seizures in the previous three months . Conclusion: The results showed high rates of medication adherences among the patients. Planning and implementing educational programs on medication regimens, emphasizing on necessity of continues use of antiepileptic drugs despite absence of seizures, can be useful in increasing the medication adherence .
