Prevalence and Associated Factors for Non-adherence in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Author:
Dam KIM
1
;
Ji Young CHOI
;
Soo Kyung CHO
;
Chan Bum CHOI
;
So Young BANG
;
Hoon Suk CHA
;
Jung Yoon CHOE
;
Won Tae CHUNG
;
Seung Jae HONG
;
Tae Hwan KIM
;
Tae Jong KIM
;
Eunmi KOH
;
Hye Soon LEE
;
Jisoo LEE
;
Shin Seok LEE
;
Sung Won LEE
;
Sung Hoon PARK
;
Seung Cheol SHIM
;
Dae Hyun YOO
;
Bo Young YOON
;
Sang Cheol BAE
;
Yoon Kyoung SUNG
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Medication adherence; Arthritis; rheumatoid; Prevalence
- MeSH: Arthritis; Arthritis, Rheumatoid; Education; Humans; Medication Adherence; Observational Study; Prevalence
- From:Journal of Rheumatic Diseases 2018;25(1):47-57
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of non-adherence to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) medication and identify the associated factors for non-adherence in RA patients. METHODS: Among the KORean Observational study Network for Arthritis 3,523 patients who completed a questionnaire about the adherence to RA medication were analyzed. The patients were divided into two groups: 1) adherent group, patients who skipped medication ≤5 days within the past 2 months; and 2) non-adherent group, patients who skipped ≥6 days of medication. The baseline characteristics were compared, and multivariable regression analysis was performed to identify the associated factors for non-adherence. RESULTS: The non-adherent group had 339 patients (9.6%). The common causes of non-adherence were forgetfulness (45.8%), absence of RA symptoms (24.7%), and discomfort with RA medication (13.1%). Younger age (odds ratio [OR] 1.02, p < 0.01) and higher income (OR 1.70, p < 0.01) were associated with an increased risk of non-adherence. Whereas higher functional disability (OR 0.68, p < 0.01) and oral corticosteroid use (OR 0.73, p=0.02) were associated with a decreased risk of non-adherence. The associated factors differed according to cause of non-adherence. Having adverse events (OR 2.65, p=0.02) was associated with the risk of non-adherence due to discomfort with RA medication while a higher level of education (OR 2.37, p=0.03) was associated with the risk of non-adherence due to an absence of RA symptoms. CONCLUSION: The 9.6% of Korean RA patients were non-adherent to RA medication. The associated factors differed according to the cause of non-adherence. Therefore, an individualized approach will be needed to improve the adherence to RA medication.
