Medication Adherence in Palliative Care Patients

BackgroundIn palliative care, therapeutic benefit and desired health outcome might be affected by non-adherence to medications, especially among patients with advanced illnesses, such as cancer. The consequences of non-adherence to medications could include poor health outcomes, recurrent admissions...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) CA), 2022-05, Vol.14 (5), p.e25322-e25322
Main Authors: AlShehri, Waleed, Almotairi, Mohammed, Alshakhs, Hasan, Orfali, Razan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age groups
Breast cancer
Cancer therapies
Clinics
Colorectal cancer
Disease
Drug dosages
Females
Gender
Likert scale
Males
Oncology
Outpatient care facilities
Palliative Care
Patient compliance
Therapeutics
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Summary:BackgroundIn palliative care, therapeutic benefit and desired health outcome might be affected by non-adherence to medications, especially among patients with advanced illnesses, such as cancer. The consequences of non-adherence to medications could include poor health outcomes, recurrent admissions, medication waste, as well as increased morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to measure the level of medication adherence in palliative care patients visiting the outpatient clinic at King Fahad Medical City.MethodsInclusion criteria comprised all palliative care patients visiting the outpatient clinic in King Fahad Medical City. Medication adherence was assessed among the participants using the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS). Data analysis was conducted using SPSS and GraphPad Prism.ResultsA total of 84 responses were recorded. Among the respondents, 58.3% were female. The most common underlying diseases among participants were breast cancer. Of the 84 participants, 59 (70.2%) patients reported good adherence, while 25 (29.7%) reported poor adherence.ConclusionNon-adherence to medications among palliative care patients is a significant public health problem. Results indicated that the overall level of medication adherence in palliative care patients was moderate to good. Further studies are required to design new techniques for increasing medication adherence in palliative care patients.
ISSN:2168-8184
2168-8184
DOI:10.7759/cureus.25322