The attitude and prevalence of patient noncompliance toward chronic disease medications in Saudi Arabia
Background: Failure of patients' adherence to medications has been a big issue for both physicians and patients; not only it does affect the patients' health but also it affects the financial status of the hospital and the patient. Objective: This investigation aims to explore the prevalen...
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Published in | Journal of family medicine and primary care Vol. 10; no. 8; pp. 3064 - 3070 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
India
Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd
01.08.2021
Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd Wolters Kluwer - Medknow Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Background: Failure of patients' adherence to medications has been a big issue for both physicians and patients; not only it does affect the patients' health but also it affects the financial status of the hospital and the patient. Objective: This investigation aims to explore the prevalence and the factors affecting the compliance of patients with chronic conditions to their medications. Materials and Methods: An online survey was distributed to patients who had chronic conditions and lived in the main cities of Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire included sections about the patients' general characters, type of chronic disease, the pattern of prescribed medications' usage, and factors affecting compliance of patients toward their medications. Data was collected in a predesigned excel sheet, and analysis was executed through SPSS program version 26. Results: 301 patients responded to this questionnaire. The lowest incidence of missing pills was among patients with heart failure, followed by chronic kidney disease, whereas the highest frequency of missing pills was among patients with vitamin D deficiency, followed by hyperlipidemia. 38.5% of the patients used mobile applications as reminders for the administration of their medications. 50% of the patients who use reminders take more than four pills a day. 48.2% of the patients stopped medications without consulting their doctors, where 20.9% stopped one medication for less than a month. 57.5% forgot to take drug doses in a year, with a mean of 8.55 ± 26.3 forgotten doses. Females, patients aging between 31 and 45 years old, obese, married, illiterate, self-employed, those who follow with military hospitals, exercising regularly, and ex-smoker all showed a higher incidence of noncompliance to medications. The main reason for noncompliance was forgetfulness in 60% of patients. 63.2% of the patients did not have a GP to help them with medications compliance. Conclusion: The compliance of Saudi patients toward their chronic medications requires improvement. Similar studies in other areas in Saudi Arabia are recommended. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 2249-4863 2278-7135 |
DOI: | 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_2512_20 |