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 this disease, non-adherence to a medication regimen can lead to deterioration by the disease and also misinterpretation of treatment results. 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 one of the hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The sample participants who fit inclusion criteria were entered in the study by the convenience and continuous method. Then, they completed a demographic information form and the eight-item Morisky medication adherence scale. Data were analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics, chi-square, and the ANOVA test. The results showed that 18.7% of patients had high adherence to medication regimen, 94 patients (45.0%) had low adherence, and 76 patients (36.4%) had moderate level of adherence to medication. There was no significant relationship between the demographic and 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 to their low and moderate medication adherence. It is also necessary that nurses and physicians in the clinic provide patient education and heed this issue in medical and nursing programs.