The Challenge of Adherence From Treatment-Care Regimens Among Patients With Chronic Diseases: A Qualitative Study

Adherence from treatment-care regimens is very essential to achieve health promotion and improve quality of life as well as affordable healthcare. Nevertheless, broaden of chronic diseases is still growing in the world because of lack of adherence. Understanding the perceived challenges can facilitate planning to increase adherence. This study aimed to explain the perceived challenges in non-adherence from the prescribed regimen among patients with chronic diseases.
This qualitative study was done in 2015 by using the conventional content analysis approach. Thirty four participants with the most common chronic diseases were recruited purposively and they were entered in the study. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and simultaneously with data collection; a comparative analysis was conducted by using the conventional qualitative content analysis method.
Four main themes extracted from the data included: flaw in the possibility of observing the recommended regimensafter devotion for family; frustration in facing the conflict between work and recommended regimens; inability in self-adaption with the recommended regimens; broaden cost of prescribed regimens; and limiting and inductive enclosure of beliefs. These themes indicate the nature of challenges in personal, family, and social dimensions of patients with chronic diseases in terms of adherence with treatment regimen.
The findings show that the perceived challenges has special complexity and diversity. Although they are sometimes internal and personal, some others are external and beyound the will and control of individuals. Therefore, it is necessary that health system policy-makers and planners intervene and plan according to the nature, diversity, and complexity of these perceived barriers in order to facilitate in the adherence of patients process from the treatment care regimens.