Associated factors with treatment adherence of patients diagnosed with chronic disease: Relationship with health literacy

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to examine the relationship between the health literacy level and treatment adherence in patients with chronic disease.

Background: Nonadherence to treatment and insufficient health literacy can cause a decrease in understanding treatment methods, an increase in medication errors, and an increase in morbidity and mortality rates.

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study comprised a total of 200 patients who were taking medication for a chronic disease. Data were collected using an 18-item questionnaire for sociodemographic and medical characteristics, the Adult Health Literacy Scale (AHLS), and the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS).

Results: Of the patients, 42.5% reported that they took three or more medications per day, and 32.0% reported that they did not know the side effects of these medications. Of the patients, 39.0% had low adherence to treatment. The mean score of the AHLS was 12.8 ± 4.74 (min = 2; max = 21). A statistically significant positive correlation was found between the AHLS scores and MMAS scores (r = 0.604; p = 0.001).

Conclusions: This study revealed that patients' adherence to treatment increased as their health literacy increased. Thus, it is recommended that health literacy levels of the patients be raised through effective interventions to ensure better adherence to treatment.

Keywords: Chronic disease; Health literacy; Treatment adherence.