Medication adherence in chronic kidney disease patients in haemodialysis programme

Abstract

Background: The person with chronic kidney disease (CKD) on hemodialysis has a complex drug therapy regimen to follow, both in the control of the symptoms caused by the disease and in the control of comorbidities. Objective: To assess the level of adherence to the drug treatment in CKD patients on a hemodialysis program. Methodology: Quantitative, descriptive-correlational and cross-sectional study, based on the appli-cation of the Measure of Treatment Adherence scale (MTA), to a sample of 101 people with CKD, undergoing hemodialysis. Results: The sample had a mean score of adherence to the drug treatment regimen of 5.32 ± 0.47, with a maximum value of 6. The dichotomous pattern of the scale, based on the median, classifies 82.18% of the sample (n = 83) as adherent and 17.82% (n = 18) as non-adherent. A statistically significant relationship of adherence was found as a function of some clinical variables: number of pathologies and daily medication. Conclusion: The percentage of non-adherents to the drug therapy regimen calls for improvement actions and highlights the importance of continuous assessment of adherence levels.