| Abstract [eng] |
Aim of the study. To analyse how healthcare professionals monitor and manage medication adherence of chronically ill patients in their daily practice in Lithuania. Materials and methods. The Webropol questionnaire, which is a part of the larger ENABLE COST international study, was used as the quantitative research method. 84 healthcare professionals participated in the study. Data were processed using SPSS 29.0, and further analysed using descriptive statistical methods. The non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis H and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare independent samples. Mean ranks were calculated and the z-score was used to compare two traits. The Fisher exact test was used to determine if there is a significant relationship between two categorical variables in small samples. Results are considered statistically significant at p<0.05. The obtained results are applicable only to this study population. Results. The majority of the physicians and other healthcare professionals worked in the public sector, whereas the majority of pharmacists were employed in the private sector. More than half of the participants had been licensed practitioners for more than 10 years. Most of the physicians (92.1%), pharmacists (87.5%), and other healthcare professionals (81.8%) assess medication adherence by asking the patients. Physicians significantly more often than pharmacists record patients' non-adherence and in the most cases make notes in the patients’ medical records. The most common interventions to improve medication adherence among respondents were patient motivation and counselling (93.8%) and involving patient’s family members or caregivers (57.5%). It was found that physicians and other healthcare professionals involve patients' relatives in medication adherence management significantly more frequently than pharmacists. Poor understanding of the importance of medication adherence among patients (64.3%), the need for patient education (46.4%), the lack of methods for assessing patient medication adherence (46.4%), the lack of national policies (45.2%) and the lack of communication between patients and healthcare professionals (45.2%) were the most frequently emphasized unsatisfied needs in healthcare professionals’ daily practice. Conclusions. Physicians, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals commonly use a subjective method to assess medication adherence in their daily practice – asking the patients about their medication use. Most doctors, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals help patients achieve their treatment goals by motivating and consulting them, and more than half of the study participants use social support interventions by involving patient's family members to manage medication adherence. The unusual practice of monitoring and recording medication adherence, lack of guidelines and National policies, poor understanding of the importance of following physician’s advice among patients, and lack of communication between patients and healthcare professionals were identified as the main barriers to medication adherence management in the daily practice. Most healthcare professionals, especially pharmacists, would like to participate in training on medication adherence management, and the most frequently identified need for competency development was related to motivating patients to follow the appropriate medication regimen. |
