Assessment of Medication Adherence and Health-Related Quality of Life in Chronic Liver Disease Patients

Abstract

Cirrhosis is a growing cause of morbidity and mortality in developed countries. It is associated with multiple life-threatening complications. Improving medication adherence could have a greater impact on the health of the population. Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) has become a common outcome indicator in clinical and epidemiological studies. It is a multidimensional concept that includes self-reported measures of one's physical and mental health as well as their social well-being. This study aimed to assess the HRQoL and medication adherence in Chronic Liver Disease (CLD) patients. Medication adherence was determined using the Adherence to Refills and Medication Scale (ARMS) and RAND's SF-36 was used to assess HRQoL. A total of 102 Chronic Liver Disease patients were enrolled in the study, the majority of whom belonged to Child-Turcotte-Pugh class C (45.1%). The majority of the patients had a history of alcohol consumption (77.5%). The total average of four dimensions under PCS and MCS of SF-36 was 45.49 and 72.89 respectively and the overall average of all domains was 59.19. Concerning the Child-Turcotte-Pugh score of the patients, a significant correlation was obtained between physical functioning and RLPH domains. ARMS score had a significant impact on 3 of the PCS and all MCS domains of SF-36, indicating that the patient's medication adherence has an important role in HRQoL.