Medication Self-efficacy and Its Related Factors: A Cross-sectional Study on Patients with Coronary Artery Disease in North East of Iran

Patients with coronary artery diseases (CAD) use a wide spectrum of medications; hence, strategies are needed to increase their adherence. In this line, identifying factors associated with medication self-efficacy can be useful.

The current study aimed to investigate medication self-efficacy and its related factors in patients with CAD in the northeast of Iran.

In this cross-sectional study, 104 patients with CAD hospitalized in one of the largest teaching hospitals in the north-east of Iran are studied. Participants were selected by convenience sampling method. Data were collected using Demographic and clinical information form, Information Satisfaction questionnaire (ISQ), and Self-Efficacy for Appropriate Medication Use scales (SEAMS). Data were analyzed by SPSS version 22 using descriptive statistics and multiple regression test.

The mean age of patients was 52.3 ± 8.8 years. The mean medication self-efficacy score was 24.9 ± 9.5 (out of 39). Multiple regression showed a linear and significant association between information satisfaction, income, medications used in the last month, information about the nature of the disease, doctors as a preferred source of information, nurses, family members, internet and social networks as the most information sources used by patients, with medication self-efficacy (R = 0.907, P < 0.001). These variables could explain 82.2% of the self-efficacy variance.

Based on the result, it can be argued that in designing and implementing educational interventions aimed to promote medication self-efficacy in patients with CAD, individuals with lower income and under long-term medication treatment should receivemore support. Educational programs should emphasizemore on explaining the nature of the disease to the patients, and physicians should be more involved in educating patients.