| Abstract [eng] |
SUMMARY Associations between Adherence to Treatment, Cynical Distrust and Attitudes towards their Illness in Older People with hypertension. Master thesis. Arūnė Žigunytė. Institute of Psychology, Vilnius University. Vilnius, 2022. ........ p. It is well known that inadequate compliance with treatment instructions when suffering from chronic diseases causes major problems in controlling the disease and complicates the work of healthcare professionals. Research shows that inappropriate health-related behaviour has serious consequences for a person's health and leads to economic losses for the country. Hypertension is among the most prevalent diseases in Lithuania and the world, and are also highlighted as priority disease in the context of adherence to treatment guidelines. The way in which a person looks after themselves and adheres to their treatment regimen is determined by certain psychological characteristics. This research takes into account three factors frequently mentioned in the literature, i.e. cynical mistrust, personality traits and attitudes towards one's illness, which may influence inadequate adherence to treatment. According to the researcher O. Zamalijeva, the structure of the observance of the instructions for medical and non-medical treatment is the best explanation for the observance of the treatment adherence. The aim of this research was to investigate the relationship between adherence to treatment, cynical mistrust and attitudes towards one's disease in older people aged between 50 and 75 with hypertension. The study involved 78 respondents with a mean age of 64.28 (SD = 8,989) years. A questionnaire was developed to collect socio-demographic data from the subjects. The Treatment Guidance Adherence Questionnaire (Zamalijeva, 2016), the Cynical Distrust Scale (Cook & Medley, 1954) and the Illness Perception Questionnaire (Zamalijeva, 2016) were also used. The results of the multiple linear regression in the study show that of all the potential factors associated with adherence to medication, the relationship between attitudes toward their illness, marital status, and available harmful habits was statistically significant. Meanwhile, the relationship between non-pharmacological adherence and health assessment was statistically significant in this study. |
