Francesco Zanatta,1 Ekaterina Nissanova,1 Natalia Świątoniowska-Lonc,2 Antonia Pierobon,1 Giovanna Callegari,3 Francesca Olmetti,4 Guido Felicetti,5 Piotr Karniej,2 Jacek Polański,6 Anna Giardini,7 Beata Jankowska-Polańska2
1Psychology Unit of Montescano Institute, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Montescano (PV), Italy; 2Department of Clinical Nursing, Faculty of Health Science, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland; 3Respiratory Rehabilitation Unit of Montescano Institute, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Montescano (PV), Italy; 4Cardiological Rehabilitation Unit of Montescano Institute, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Montescano (PV), Italy; 5Neuromotor Rehabilitation Unit of Montescano Institute, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Montescano (PV), Italy; 6Department of Internal Diseases, Occupational Medicine, Hypertension and Clinical Oncology, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland; 7Information Technology Department, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia, Italy
Correspondence: Antonia Pierobon
Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Via S. Maugeri, 4, Pavia 27100, Italy
Tel +39 385 247255
Fax +39 385 61386
Email [email protected]
Purpose: Non-adherence to clinical prescriptions is widely recognized as the most common cause of uncontrolled hypertension, contributing to develop acute and chronic cardiovascular diseases. Specifically, patients’ unintentional non-adherence is related to psychosocial factors as beliefs about medications, perceived physician’s communication effectiveness and medication-specific social support. The aim of this study was to observe the impact of these factors on self-efficacy in relation to pharmacological and non-pharmacological self-reported adherence among older chronic patients with hypertension.
Patients and Methods: This research had a cross-sectional, observational and multicentre study design. Italian inpatients under rehabilitation, and Polish inpatients/outpatients were recruited. Following a cognitive screening, socio-demographic and clinical characteristics were obtained. Data on clinical and behavioral adherence (i.e., pharmacological adherence, adherence to refill medicines, intentional non-adherence) and psychosocial factors related to treatment adherence (i.e., beliefs about medicines, physician’s communication skills, medication-specific social support, psychological antecedents and self-efficacy) were collected with self-report questionnaires.
Results: A total of 458 patients were recruited. Fischer’s LSD post hoc test revealed significant differences between Italian and Polish samples in all measures (p< 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed low self-reported intentional non-adherence (β = − .02, p=0.031), high self-reported adherence to refill medications (β=− .05, p=0.017), high levels of perceived physician’s communication effectiveness (β=0.11, p< 0.001), positive beliefs about medications (β=0.13, p< 0.001), and high perceived medication-specific social support (β=0.05, p< 0.001) to predict significantly high patients’ self-efficacy in relation to pharmacological and non-pharmacological self-reported adherence.
Conclusion: The observed psychosocial and behavioral factors revealed to positively impact on self-efficacy in relation to treatment adherence among older chronic patients dealing with hypertension. In a prevention framework, future studies and clinical practice may consider these factors in order to improve assessment and intervention on adherence in this population.
Keywords: self-reported adherence, hypertension, chronicity, self-efficacy, older patients, psychosocial
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