Adherence in patients with chronic treatment: data of “adherence day 2013”

Abstract

Objetive: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the adherence level in chronic conditions patients during “The Adherence Day” celebrated on November 15, 2013. Methods: We performed a transversal, observational and multicenter study at 43 Spanish hospitals, in order to estimate adherence in chronic treatments. We used the validated questionnaires Haynes- Sackett and Morisky- Green to measure medication adherence; but also a visual analogue scale and questions related with treatment complexity and selective adherence were applied. We performed a descriptive analysis and the closeness of agreement between questionnaires results. Results: A total of 723 surveys were collected especially among outpatients. 43% of the participants were women, with a median age of 51 and taking 3 drugs per day. 10.8% of the patients reported to have difficulty taking their pills according to Haynes- Sackett test. However, depending on Morisky- Green questionnaire, 56.4% of the participants were totally compliant; but considering only the question about forgetfulness, more were adherents (77%). 71% of the patients considered their compliance level as good (more than 8) according to visual analogue scale. And 11% presented a selective adherence, no taking equally well all the medications. The closeness of agreement between questionnaires and Morisky- Green test, as gold standard, was poor for Haynes- Sackett and weak for visual analogue scale. Conclusions: In our study only 56% of the patients with chronic treatment had a perfect adherence

Keywords

• Adherence
• ; Questionnaires
• Pharmaceutical care