The İnfluence of Beliefs About Medicines On Medication Nonadherence Among Hemodialysis Patients: A Multicenter Study From Malaysia

Abstract

Medication nonadherence can be caused by erroneous medication beliefs. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of medication nonadherence among hemodialysis patients and its association with beliefs about medicines. A cross-sectional multicenter study among hemodialysis patients was performed. Data was collected by using the 5 items-medication adherence report scale (MARS-5) and the Beliefs about Medicine Questionnaire (BMQ). The correlation of medication nonadherence with patients’ beliefs about medicine was assessed by multiple logistic regression. A total of 325 patients were interviewed. The majority of patients were aged 55 years or more (69.0%) and received 6-10 prescribed medications daily (58.1%). The prevalence of medication nonadherence was 69.5% based on the MARS-5 score. Considering the BMQ score, the total mean score for the Specific –Necessity and Specific–Concern domain was 18.42 ± 2.30 and 13.16 ± 3.13 respectively. Whereas, the General –Overuse and the General–Harm domains showed a total mean score of 11.37 ± 1.98 and 9.44 ± 1.81 respectively. The patients with the belief of medication will protect them from becoming worse showed significantly less medication nonadherence (adjusted OR = 0.543). Medication nonadherence was significantly more prominent among patients who worried about taking medications (adjusted OR = 1.500) but less prominent among patients who perceived medications as addictive to them (adjusted OR = 0.637). In conclusion, medication nonadherence was prevalent among hemodialysis patients. There is a need to address hemodialysis patients’ necessity, concern, and harm perception towards their prescribed medication to overcome medication nonadherence.