Assessment of Treatment Adherence Behaviours and their Predictors among Patients Receiving Haemodialysis in Kurunegala Teaching Hospital, Sri Lanka

Abstract

The success of haemodialysis is dependent on adherence to a complex therapeutic regimen. As the reported prevalence of non-adherence varies widely, the aim of the study was to assess selected treatment adherence behaviors and their predictors among patients receiving haemodialysis. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among a convenience sample of 150 patients receiving hemodialysis at Kurunegala Teaching Hospital. Self-reported adherence to haemodialysis attendance, prescribed medications, dietary recommendations and fluid restrictions were assessed using a validated End Stage Renal Disease- Adherence Questionnaire (ESRD-AQ). Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS version 25.0 software. The study group consisted of 72.7% of men, and the mean age was 54.08±10.78 years. Reported adherence to haemodialysis attendance, prescribed medications, dietary recommendations and fluid restrictions were 96.0%, 96.7%, 71.3% and 32.7% respectively. The higher percentage (98.0%) of patients reported good perception of adherence to prescribed medications compared to diet (92.0%), haemodialysis attendance (94.0%) and fluid restrictions (92.0%). Overall, 81 (54.0%) patients had good adherence to all four treatment modalities while 134 (89.3%) patients had good perception. There was a significant correlation between overall adherence and overall perception score (p=0.013<0.05). Patients who were employed (p=0.042), had good income (p=0.022) and able to afford monthly expenditure for the treatments (p=0.043) had significantly good adherence, while the patients who had forgetfulness treatments had a significantly low level of adherence (p=0.000) (p<0.05). Measures should be taken to improve patients’ adherence to dietary recommendations and fluid restrictions.