Medication adherence and quality of life among the elderly with diabetic retinopathy

OBJECTIVE:

to investigate the factors related to medication adherence and its relation to Health- Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in elderly people with diabetic retinopathy.

METHOD:

one hundred (n=100) elderly outpatients with diabetic retinopathy taking antihypertensives and/or oral antidiabetics/insulin were interviewed. Adherence was evaluated by the adherence proportion and its association with the care taken in administrating medications and by the Morisky Scale. The National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) was used to evaluate HRQoL.

RESULTS:

most (58%) reported the use of 80% or more of the prescribed dose and care in utilizing the medication. The item "stopping the drug when experiencing an adverse event", from the Morisky Scale, explained 12.8% and 13.5% of the variability of adherence proportion to antihypertensives and oral antidiabetics/insulin, respectively.

CONCLUSION:

there was better HRQoL in the Color Vision, Driving and Social Functioning domains of the NEI VFQ-25. Individuals with lower scores on the NEI VFQ-25 and higher scores on the Morisky Scale presented greater chance to be nonadherent to the pharmacological treatment of diabetes and hypertension.     

Quality of life of coronary artery disease patients after the implementation of planning strategies for medication adherence

OBJECTIVE:

to compare the general and specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) between the Intervention (IG) and Control (CG) groups of coronary artery disease patients after the implementation of Action Planning and Coping Planning strategies for medication adherence and to verify the relationship between adherence and HRQoL.

METHOD:

this was a controlled and randomized study.

RESULTS:

the sample (n=115) was randomized into two groups, IG (n=59) and CG (n=56). Measures of medication adherence and general and specific HRQoL were obtained in the baseline and after two months of monitoring.

CONCLUSION:

the findings showed that the combination of intervention strategies - Action Planning and Coping Planning for medication adherence did not affect the HRQoL of coronary artery disease patients in outpatient monitoring.     

Adherence to treatment for diabetes mellitus: validation of instruments for oral antidiabetics and insulin

Objectives

to verify the face validity, criterion-related validity and the reliability of two distinct forms of presentation of the instrument Measurement of Adherence to Treatment, one being for ascertaining the adherence to the use of oral antidiabetics and the other for adherence to the use of insulin, as well as to assess differences in adherence between these two modes of drug therapy.

Method

a methodological study undertaken with 90 adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. The criterion-related validity was verified using the Receiver Operating Characteristic curves; and for the reliability, the researchers calculated the Cronbach alpha coefficient, the item-total correlation, and the Pearson correlation coefficient.

Results

the oral antidiabetics and the other showed sensitivity of 0.84, specificity of 0.35 and a Cronbach correlation coefficient of 0.84. For the adherence to the use of insulin, the values found were, respectively, 0.60, 0.21 and 0.68. A statistically significant difference was found between the final scores of the two forms of the instrument, indicating greater adherence to the use of insulin than to oral antidiabetics.

Conclusion

it is concluded that the two forms of the Measurement of Adherence to Treatment instrument are reliable and should be used to evaluate adherence to drug treatment among people with diabetes mellitus.     

Elaboration and validation of instrument to assess adherence to hypertension treatment

OBJECTIVE

To elaborate and validate an instrument of adherence to treatment for systemic arterial hypertension, based on Item Response Theory.

METHODS

The process of developing this instrument involved theoretical, empirical and analytical procedures. The theoretical procedures included defining the construct of adherence to systemic arterial hypertension treatment, identifying areas involved and preparing the instrument. The instrument underwent semantic and conceptual analysis by experts. The empirical procedure involved the application of the instrument to 1,000 users with systemic arterial hypertension treated at a referral center in Fortaleza, CE, Northeastern Brazil, in 2012.. The analytical phase validated the instrument through psychometric analysis and statistical procedures. The Item Response Theory model used in the analysis was the Samejima Gradual Response model.

RESULTS

Twelve of the 23 items of the original instrument were calibrated and remained in the final version. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (α) was 0.81. Items related to the use of medication when presenting symptoms and the use of fat showed good performance as they were more capable of discriminating individuals who adhered to treatment. To ever stop taking the medication and the consumption of white meat showed less power of discrimination. Items related to physical exercise and routinely following the non-pharmacological treatment had most difficulty to respond. The instrument was more suitable for measuring low adherence to hypertension treatment than high.

CONCLUSIONS

The instrument proved to be an adequate tool to assess adherence to treatment for systemic arterial hypertension since it manages to differentiate individuals with high from those with low adherence. Its use could facilitate the identification and verification of compliance to prescribed therapy, besides allowing the establishment of goals to be achieved.     

Systemic Arterial Hypertension in the Emergency Service: medication adherence and understanding of this disease

Objective:

to identify the epidemiological profile of hypertension patients, how much they understand about the disease and the rate of adherence to treatment by these patients who had been hospitalized in the Brazilian emergency service.

Methods:

this cross-sectional study was performed with 116 patients, both male and female and aged over 18 years, who had been hospitalized in the Emergency Service of a University Hospital between March and June, 2013. The studied variables were data referring to socio-demographics, comorbidities, physical activity and knowledge regarding the disease. Patient adherence to treatment and the identification of the barriers were respectively evaluated using the Morisky test and the Brief Medication Questionnaire.

Results:

most of the patients involved in this study were women (55%), with white skin color (55%), married (51%), retirees or pensioners (64%) and with a low educational level (58%). Adherence to treatment, in most cases (55%), was moderate and the most prevalent adherence barrier was recall (67%). When medication was acquired at no cost to the patient, there was greater adherence to treatment.

Conclusion:

this study''s patients had a moderate understanding about the disease. The high correlation between the number of drugs used and the recall barrier suggests that monotherapy is an option that can facilitate treatment adherence and reduce how often the patients forget to take their medication.     

The meaning of pharmacological treatment for schizophrenic patients

OBJECTIVE:

to understand the meaning of medication therapy for schizophrenic patients and formulate a theoretical model about the study phenomenon.

METHOD:

a qualitative approach was employed, using Symbolic Interactionism as the theoretical and Grounded Theory as the methodological framework. The research was developed between 2008 and 2010 at three community mental health services in the interior of the State of São Paulo - Brazil. Thirty-six patients and thirty-six family members were selected through theoretical sampling. The data were mainly collected through open interviews and observation and simultaneously analyzed through open, axial and selective coding.

RESULTS:

the meaning of the pharmacotherapy is centered on the phenomenon "Living with a help that bothers", which expresses the patients'' ambivalence towards the medication and determines their decision making. The insight, access, limitations for self-administration of the drugs and interactions with family members and the health team influenced the patient''s medication-related behavior.

CONCLUSION:

the theory presented in this study provides a comprehensive, contextualized, motivational and dynamic understanding of the relation the patient experiences and indicates potentials and barriers to follow the medication treatment.     

Comparative analysis of non-adherence to medication treatment for systemic arterial hypertension in urban and rural populations

OBJECTIVE:

to evaluate the indexes and the main factors associated with non-adherence to medication treatment for systemic arterial hypertension between urban and rural areas.

METHOD:

analytical study based on an epidemiological survey with a sample of 247 hypertensive residents of rural and urban areas, with application of a socio-demographic and economic questionnaire, and treatment adherence assessment. The Pearson''s Chi-square test was used and the odds ratio (OD) was calculated to analyze the factors related to non-adherence.

RESULTS:

the prevalence of non-adherence was 61.9% and it was higher in urban areas (63.4%). Factors significantly associated with non-adherence were: male gender (OR=1.95; 95% CI 1.08-3.50), age 20-59 years old (OR=2.51; 95% CI 1.44-4.39), low economic status (OR=1.95; 95% CI 1.09-3.47), alcohol consumption (OR=5.92, 95% CI 1.73-20.21), short time of hypertension diagnosis (OR=3.07; 95% CI 1.35-6.96) and not attending the health service for routine consultations (OR=2.45; 1.35-4.42).

CONCLUSION:

the socio-demographic/economic characteristics, lifestyle habits and how to relate to health services were the factors that presented association with non-adherence regardless of the place of residence.     

Nurses' adherence to the Kangaroo Care Method: support for nursing care management

OBJECTIVE:

construct an explanatory theoretical model about nurses'' adherence to the Kangaroo Care Method at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, based on the meanings and interactions for care management.

METHOD:

qualitative research, based on the reference framework of the Grounded Theory. Eight nurses were interviewed at a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The comparative analysis of the data comprised the phases of open, axial and selective coding. A theoretical conditional-causal model was constructed.

RESULTS:

four main categories emerged that composed the analytic paradigm: Giving one''s best to the Kangaroo Method; Working with the complexity of the Kangaroo Method; Finding (de)motivation to apply the Kangaroo Method; and Facing the challenges for the adherence to and application of the Kangaroo Method.

CONCLUSIONS:

the central phenomenon revealed that each nurse and team professional has a role of multiplying values and practices that may or may not be constructive, potentially influencing the (dis)continuity of the Kangaroo Method at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The findings can be used to outline management strategies that go beyond the courses and training and guarantee the strengthening of the care model.     

Alcoholic patients' response to their disease: perspective of patients and family

Objective:

to know the perspective of alcoholic patients and their families about the behavioral characteristics of the disease, identifying the issues to modify the addictive behavior and seek rehabilitation.

Method:

ethnographic research using interpretative anthropology, via participant observation and a detailed interview with alcoholic patients and their families, members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Alanon in Spain.

Results:

development of disease behavior in alcoholism is complex due to the issues of interpreting the consumption model as a disease sign. Patients often remain long periods in the pre-contemplation stage, delaying the search for assistance, which often arrives without them accepting the role of patient. This constrains the recovery and is related to the social thought on alcoholism and self-stigma on alcoholics and their families, leading them to deny the disease, condition of the patient, and help. The efforts of self-help groups and the involvement of health professionals is essential for recovery.

Conclusion:

understanding how disease behavior develops, and the change process of addictive behavior, it may be useful for patients, families and health professionals, enabling them to act in a specific way at each stage.     

Potential Bias in Medication Adherence Studies of Prevalent Users

Purpose

We examined how the choice of historic medication use criteria for identifying prevalent users may bias estimated adherence changes associated with a medication copayment increase.

Methods

From pharmacy claims data in a retrospective cohort study, we identified 6,383 prevalent users of oral diabetes medications from four VA Medical Centers. Patients were included in this prevalent cohort if they had one fill both 3 months prior and 4–12 months prior to the index date, defined as the month in which medication copayments increased. To determine whether these historic medication use criteria introduced bias in the estimated response to a $5 medication copayment increase, we compared adherence trends from cohorts defined from different medication use criteria and from different index dates of copayment change. In an attempt to validate the prior observation of an upward trend in adherence prior to the date of the policy change, we replicated time series analyses varying the index dates prior to and following the date of the policy change, hypothesizing that the trend line associated with the policy change would differ from the trend lines that were not.

Results

Medication adherence trends differed when different medication use criteria were applied. Contrary to our expectations, similar adherence trends were observed when the same medication use criteria were applied at index dates when no copayment changes occurred.

Conclusion

To avoid introducing bias due to study design in outcomes assessments of medication policy changes, historic medication use inclusion criteria must be chosen carefully when constructing cohorts of prevalent users. Furthermore, while pharmacy data have enormous potential for population research and monitoring, there may be inherent logical flaws that limit cohort identification solely through administrative pharmacy records.     

Adherence to the food guide for the Brazilian population

OBJECTIVE

To analyze adherence to the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population.

METHODS

Sample composed of participants in the Health Survey for Sao Paulo (n = 1,661) who completed two non-consecutive 24-hour recalls. A bivariate mixed model was created for the ratio of energy from a food group and total energy intake. The estimated ratio was used to calculate the percentage of individuals with intake above or below the recommendation.

RESULTS

At least 80.0% of the individuals consume below the recommendation for milk and dairy; fruit and fresh juice; and cereals, tubers and roots; about 60.0% for vegetables; 30.0% for beans; and 8.0% for meat and eggs. Adolescents had the greatest inadequacy for vegetables (90.0%), and the highest income group had the lowest inadequacy for oils, fat and seeds (57.0%).

CONCLUSIONS

The intake of food groups related to increased risk of chronic diseases were found to be inadequate.     

Hope and spirituality among patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing hemodialysis: a correlational study

Objective

to analyze the relationship between the hope and spirituality of patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing hemodialysis.

Method

this is a cross-sectional, correlational study. The sample was composed of 127 patients of a Renal Replacement Unit. Data were collected through individual interviews guided by the following instruments: participant characterization, Herth Hope Index (HHI), and Pinto Pais-Ribeiro Spirituality Scale (PP-RSS).

Results

the average HHI score was 38.06 (±4.32) while the average PP-RSS score was 3.67 (±0.62) for "beliefs" and 3.21 (±0.53) for "hope/optimism". Spearman''s coefficient indicated there was a moderate positive correlation between the HHI and PP-RSS dimensions of "beliefs" (r=0.430; p<0.001) and "hope/optimism" (r=0.376; p<0.001).

Conclusion

Since a relationship between the sense of hope and spirituality of patients with chronic kidney disease was found, these constructs should be taken into account at the time health professionals deliver care to help patients coping with the disease and treatment.