Abstract
OBJECTIVE:to investigate the factors related to medication adherence and its relation to Health- Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in elderly people with diabetic retinopathy.METHOD: one hundred (n=100) elderly outpatients with diabetic retinopathy taking antihypertensives and/or oral antidiabetics/insulin were interviewed. Adherence was evaluated by the adherence proportion and its association with the care taken in administrating medications and by the Morisky Scale. The National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) was used to evaluate HRQoL. RESULTS: most (58%) reported the use of 80% or more of the prescribed dose and care in utilizing the medication. The item "stopping the drug when experiencing an adverse event", from the Morisky Scale, explained 12.8% and 13.5% of the variability of adherence proportion to antihypertensives and oral antidiabetics/insulin, respectively. CONCLUSION: there was better HRQoL in the Color Vision, Driving and Social Functioning domains of the NEI VFQ-25. Individuals with lower scores on the NEI VFQ-25 and higher scores on the Morisky Scale presented greater chance to be nonadherent to the pharmacological treatment of diabetes and hypertension.
Highlights
MethodsThe visual acuity decrease in the elderly contributes expressively to accentuate their dependence, by the changes related to social and psychological aspects, the gradual loss of autonomy, self-care and quality of life(1)
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) constitutes one of the most incapacitating microangiopathic complications in older patients with diabetes mellitus (DM)(2) and it is divided into two phases: non-proliferative and proliferative
The analysis indicates that the vision-related quality of life and the Morisky Scale score influenced the medication adherence: individuals with lower scores on the NEI VFQ-25 and higher scores on the Morisky Scale have a greater chance of becoming nonadherent
Summary
MethodsThe visual acuity decrease in the elderly contributes expressively to accentuate their dependence, by the changes related to social and psychological aspects, the gradual loss of autonomy, self-care and quality of life(1). The risk factors for DR are basically hyperglycemia and hypertension(4), pointing to the importance of the regular use of medications to control glycemia and pressure levels, in order to prevent the manifestation of the disease and/or its evolution This is an important issue among the elderly population that has demonstrated a tendency to nonadherence(5). Among those affected by DR, the failure to adhere to drug therapy results in the inadequate control of the glycemia and hypertension, in the progression of retinal complications, and in the worsening of the visual acuity that, in turn, compromises the quality of life of these individuals
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