A survey on medication adherence and influencing factors among 226 peritoneal dialysis patients in a primary hospital in China

Purpose: To investigate the current status of medication adherence among peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients in a primary hospital and to explore the influencing factors of medication adherence among PD patients.

Methods: The author used the Chinese version of the Morisky Medication Compliance Scale to evaluate the medication compliance of 226 PD patients in a single centre. Univariate analysis and logistic regression were used to analyse the factors influencing medication compliance in patients.

Results: Among 226 PD patients, 196 had moderate/high drug adherence (86.73%), and 36 had low medication adherence (15.93%). Univariate analysis showed that there was a statistically significant difference between groups in age (χ² = 3.990, P = 0.020), PD vintage (t = 2.068, P = 0.040), presence of anaemia (t = -2.750, P = 0.006), PD operator (χ² = 3.110, P = 0.047), SDS scores (t = 2.818, P = 0.005). Binary logistic regression analysis demonstrated that age (OR = 1.037, 95% CI: 1.005-1.070; P = 0.037), SDS scores (OR = 0.940, 95% CI: 0.900-0.982; P = 0.005) are factors affecting patient drug compliance.

Conclusions: In summary, this study found that age and depressive symptoms were the main factors affecting drug compliance in PD patients, providing a basis for specifying specific measures to improve patient medication adherence. With the help of information technology and a novel exercise method, the medical staff could carry out various forms of health education and activity to improve the medication compliance of PD patients.