The Role of Ambiguity Tolerance in the Relationship Between Social Support and Treatment Adherence in Hepatitis Patients

Hepatitis is a major health problem worldwide and among the top 10 leading causes of death in individuals. It is among the leading causes of cancer and liver failure. Several factors contribute to the recovery of patients with hepatitis; one of which is treatment adherence. A major problem in treating hepatitis is the lack of patients’ adherence to the treatment recommendations. In addition to treatment adherence, social support provision is critical for patients with hepatitis. Furthermore, ambiguity tolerance is crucial in psychology and paramedical sciences. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the role of ambiguity tolerance in the relationship between social support and adherence to the treatment of hepatitis.

This was a correlational study. The statistical population of the study included all patients with hepatitis referring to the Comprehensive Health Center No. 5 in Zanjan City, Iran, in the first half of 2019. The statistical population included 999 hepatitis patients; of whom, 278 individuals (based on the sample size of Krejcie & Morgan, 1970) were selected as the study sample. The study subjects were selected by stratified random sampling approach. In this study, ethical considerations related to the study subjects were observed. The following tools were used to collect the required data: the McLainchr('39')s (1993) Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance (MSTAT) scale, the Social Support Scale (Sherborne & Stewatt, 1991), and the eight–item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS–8) (Morrisky et al., 2008). In this study, to investigate the direct and indirect relationship between the predicting and criterion variables, modeling was used in path analysis. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was also implemented to evaluate the linear relationship between the research variables. Besides, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was used to evaluate the normality of the data. In addition, the obtained data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS. Furthermore, the significance level for the tests was considered to be 0.05.

The current research results revealed a direct and significant relationship between social support and treatment (r=0.615, p<0.001). There was a direct and significant relationship between social support and ambiguity tolerance (r=0.234, p<0.001). There was a direct and significant relationship between ambiguity tolerance and treatment adherence (r=0.349, p<0.001). Additionally, the effect of total social support on ambiguity tolerance was significant (β=0.597, p<0.001). The direct effect of social support on treatment adherence was significant (β=0.406, p<0.001). The indirect effect of ambiguity tolerance on treatment adherence was significant (β=0.159, p=0.051).

Overall, the obtained data signified that social support was significantly associated with ambiguity tolerance in the treatment of hepatitis patients.