Health literacy and adherence to chronic medication : a descriptive study in a primary health care clinic in the Eden District

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY : Introduction:Non-communicable disease is a major cause of morbidity in South Africa. Poor adherence to long-term medication severely compromises the effectiveness of treatment.Multiple factors have been described that affect adherence, with health literacy suggested as an independent predictor of medication adherence.This study explored patients' health literacy and adherence in a primary health care setting in the Eden district of the Western Cape Province.Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study. Two validated questionnaires were used in a primary health clinic.The Morisky8 item medication adherence questionnairewas used to assess participants' adherence. To evaluate participants' health literacy, the Adaptation of the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine-Revised (REALM-R) to the South African context was used. Results: Of the total 265 patients interviewed the literacy scores were 'poor for 244 (92%) and 'good for 21 (8%). On the self-reported adherence, 204 (77%) reported 'low adherence, 61 (23%) reported 'medium adherence and none reported 'good adherence.Conclusion: Most participants had poor health literacy and poor to medium adherence to medication.Factors influencing adherence are multiple and diverse.Health literacy might improve adherence but all the factors influencing adherence need to be taken into account.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University