Abstract
Objective: Good adherence is critical for successful cancer treatment. Complex medication regimens have been found among the various therapy-related factors causing non-adherence. Methods: In a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study of outpatients, we assessed 75 patients suffering from cancer. The objective of this study is to find associations between therapeutic regimen-related factors and medication adherence in patients on oral anticancer therapy. Results: There was an increase in medication adherence as the length of therapy increased. About 10.76% of the patients with treatment duration <4 years showed low adherence. Low adherence was not observed with treatment duration of more than 4 years. About 6.55% of those taking up to four drugs had low adherence as compared to 14.28% taking more than 4 drugs. About 8.69% of patients taking drugs up to thrice a day showed low adherence as compared to 16.66% taking more than thrice a day. The negative associations between medication regimen complexity and adherence observed in this study were in the predicted direction but did not achieve statistical significance (p>0.05). The effect size was small (d=0.28) Conclusion: Complex prescription regimens reduce adherence to oral anticancer treatments, however, there are several other factors to consider than regimen simplification to increase adherence.
Highlights
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide
There was an increase in medication adherence as the length of therapy increased
Low adherence was not observed with treatment duration of more than 4 years
Summary
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. In 2020, 10 million deaths occurred due to cancer globally [1]. The transition to oral anticancer therapy has led to a new era in cancer treatment [2]. Patients generally tolerate oral anticancer therapy well. Developing simple oral regimens that make medication as simple as feasible are crucial [3]. Studies have confirmed that the majority of patients prefer home-based oral therapy to hospitalbased i.v chemotherapy [4]
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More From: Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research
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