Adherence to Nucleoside/Nucleotide Analogue Treatment in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B.

BACKGROUND

Adherence to medication is an important aspect of preventing drug resistance and treatment failure in patients receiving nucleos(t)ide analogues for chronic hepatitis B.

AIMS

To assess adherence to nucleoside/nucleotide analogues in chronic hepatitis B treatment and to determine factors associated with non-adherence.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

METHODS

The study enrolled 85 chronic hepatitis B patients who had been receiving nucleoside/nucleotide analogues for ≥3 months. A questionnaire was completed by patients themselves, and adherence was evaluated based on patients' self-reporting. The use of at least 95% of the drugs in the previous month was considered as adequate adherence.

RESULTS

Adherence was adequate in 82.4% of patients. Female gender (p=0.003), unemployment (p=0.041) and lower monthly family income (p=0.001) were related to lower adherence. Better adherence was significantly linked to adequate basic knowledge regarding chronic hepatitis B (p=0.049), longer treatment duration than 12 months (p<0.001), previous use of other medications for chronic hepatitis B (p=0.014) and regular follow-up by the same physician (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

Counselling patients about their disease state and the consequences of non-adherence is an important intervention for enhancing adherence. Naïve patients should be followed up more frequently to reinforce adherence.