Abstract
Background and objectives
Patient knowledge of lung function (ie, forced expiratory volume in 1 s [FEV1]% predicted) and the intended benefits of their prescribed pulmonary medications might play an important role in medication adherence, but this relationship has not been examined previously in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF).
Methods
All patients diagnosed with CF and without prior lung transplantation were invited to complete knowledge and self-reported medication adherence questionnaires during routine outpatient visits to the Adult CF Clinic, St Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, Canada from June 2013 to August 2014.
Results
A total of 142 out of 167 (85%) consecutive adults attending CF clinic completed patient knowledge and medication adherence survey questionnaires. Sixty-four percent of the patients recalled their last FEV1% predicted value within 5%, and 70% knew the intended benefits of all their prescribed medications. Self-reported adherence rates were highest for inhaled antibiotics (81%), azithromycin (87%), and dornase alpha (76%) and lowest for hypertonic saline (47%). Individuals who knew their FEV1% predicted value within 5% were more likely to self-report adherence to dornase alpha (84% vs 62%, P=0.06) and inhaled antibiotics (88% vs 64%, P=0.06) compared to those who did not, but these associations were not statistically significant. There were no significant associations observed between patient knowledge of intended medication benefits and self-reported medication adherence.
Conclusion
Contrary to our hypothesis, disease- and treatment-related knowledge was not associated with self-reported medication adherence. This suggests other barriers to medication adherence should be targeted in future studies aiming to improve medication adherence in adults with CF.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank our patients for their enthusiastic participation and would like to acknowledge Stephanie Maganja, Eri Flores, and Eric Park for their help in patient recruitment and data entry, as well as other members of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Clinic at St Paul’s Hospital for their support. We would also like to acknowledge the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine’s Summer Student Research Program, and Cystic Fibrosis Canada for funding this research.
Ann Hsu-An Lin was supported by the Summer Student Research Program (SSRP) by the Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, and the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) Health Professional Research Award. Bradley S Quon was supported by a Cystic Fibrosis Canada Clinician-Scientist Award and operating grants from the BC Lung Association and Cystic Fibrosis Canada, but the funding agencies played no role in this work.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.