Treatment Adherence and Factors Affecting among Adult Asthmatic Patients at Soddo Christian General Hospital, Southern Ethiopia: Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Evidences reveal that bellow half of asthma patients are adherent to their medications. Striving for improved adherence and asthma control is of vital concern in today’s asthma management. In a recent document, the world health organization recognized lack of adherence as a major problem in management of chronic disease and concluded that improving adherence would have more beneficial impact on health outcome than improving specific treatment. But, study findings addressing its magnitude and associated factors are lacking in the country and hence current study was aimed to assess level of treatment adherence and factors affecting among asthmatic patients in Soddo Christian General hospital, from July to August, 2017. Methodology: A facility based cross-sectional study design was used. Data was collected through structured questionnaire to collect information on socio-demographic, socio-economic and information on medication adherence and disease related factors. Completeness of the data was checked every day and cleaned and analyzed. Descriptive analysis was computed as frequency, mean and standard deviation (SD) for continuous variables and for categorical data. The out puts of different study findings was presented using tables, graphs, & figures accordingly. Results: Among 106 patients participated in the study, 62 (59%) were males and majority of the respondents found within age range of 36-45, 36 (34%). It was found that 139 (59%) of asthmatic patients had poor adherence for which the most common factors affecting adherence were, forgetting to take the drug 25 (23.5%) and being busy with other tasks 18 (17%). Majority (79%) of asthmatic patients reported as they use alternative methods as means of treatment. Conclusion: The level of adherence to asthma medication was relatively lower when compared to others studies done in developing countries. The major reasons for missing doses were simple forgetfulness, absences of clear drug information and being busy with other things. Hence, health care providers especially pharmacists should provide accessible information to patients on their treatment plan to ensure patients keep their regular follow up, improve their patient’s confidence and to avoid drug abuse.