Medication Adherence in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus : A Descriptive Study

Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease that involves several systems of the body. Due to the chronic nature of this disease, non-adherence with medication regimen can lead to deterioration of 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 lupus clinic of one of the hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The samples who had the inclusion criteria were entered into the study in a convenience and continuous manner. Then, they completed a demographic information form and MMAS-8. Data were analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics, chi-square and ANOVA tests.

The results showed that 18.7% of patients had high adherence to medication regimen, so that 94 patients (45.0%) had low adherence and 76 patients (36.4%) had moderate level of adherence to medication. Also, there was no significant relationship between the demographic and clinical variables of patients and their medication adherence.

Due to the low and moderate medication adherence of patients with Systemic lupus erythematosus, it is necessary to take measures to increase the medication adherence among these patients. It is also necessary to provide patient education by nurses and physicians in the clinic and to pay attention to this issue in medical and nursing programs.