Medication Adherence in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus : A Descriptive Study

Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease that affects several systems of the body. Due to the chronic nature of thisdisease, non-adherence to a medication regimen can lead to deterioration by the disease and also misinterpretation of treatmentresults. The aim of this study was to determine the medication adherence of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.In this descriptive study, medication adherence was investigated in 209 patients with SLE who were attending a lupus clinic in oneof the hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The sample participants who fit inclusion criteria wereentered in the study by the convenience and continuous method. Then, they completed a demographic information form and theeight-item Morisky medication adherence scale. Data were analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics, chi-square, andthe ANOVA test.The results showed that 18.7% of patients had high adherence to medication regimen, 94 patients (45.0%) had low adherence, and76 patients (36.4%) had a moderate level of adherence to medication. There was no significant relationship between the demographicand clinical variables of patients and their adherence to their medication.It is necessary to take measures to increase medication adherence among these patients with systemic lupus erythematosus due totheir low and moderate medication adherence. It is also necessary that nurses and physicians in the clinic provide patient educationand heed this issue in medical and nursing programs.

Keywords:

Systemic lupus erythematosus , Medications adherence , Non-adherence to medication