Attitudes to medication and effects of IBD nursing service among patients with inflammatory bowel disease in Taiwan

Abstract

Medication adherence is crucial in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This study aimed to evaluate attitudes to medication and the effects of IBD nursing services in a Taiwanese cohort. Sixty four adult patients with IBD were invited to complete a questionnaire at Changhua Christian Hospital between October 2020 and June 2021. All the patients (32 with Crohn's disease and 32 with ulcerative colitis) completed the questionnaire. Regarding medication adherence, most patients were highly or moderately adherent and reported never or sometimes forgetting to take medication (100% for steroids and 90.7% to 91.2% for other medications). Regarding worries about adverse reactions, 38.8%, 40.3%, 12.8%, and 6.1% of patients never or rarely, sometimes, often, and always felt worried about adverse reactions, respectively. Regarding the usefulness of IBD nursing service for disease education, medication education, and scheduling of an outpatient clinic, approximately 10.9% to 12.5% of patients felt useful, and 78.1% felt very useful. Our study showed a higher adherence rate and lower worries about adverse reactions, which may be the effects of IBD nursing service at our institution.