Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2023 Apr 17;18:593-598. doi: 10.2147/COPD.S392946. eCollection 2023.
There is a very limited information and studies on the impact of adherence to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) medications in Saudi Arabia. We hypothesized that the adherence to COPD medication in our tertiary hospital is poor and can lead to frequent ED visits and longer hospitalization stays. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of medication adherence in patients with COPD on emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalization.
A single-center retrospective observational study included patients with a COPD exacerbation, who were admitted to a tertiary teaching hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from October 2017 to November 2020. The primary outcome was the rate of emergency department (ED) visit in one year. Secondary outcomes were hospitalization after ED visit and total hospital length of stay. Medication adherence was evaluated by using Fixed Medication Possession Ratio (FMPR). Patients with score of ≥0.80 were classified as high-adherent groups while patients with ratio <0.80 were on low-adherent groups.
A total of 266 patients enrolled in the study. Of those 266 patients, 139 patients were on high-adherent group and 127 were on low-adherent group. There was a significant difference between the high-adherent group and low-adherent group in the incidence of ED visit in one year 62 (44.6%) vs 73 (57.5%); P < 0.036, and hospitalization after the ED visit 26 (18.7%) vs 42 (33.1%); P = 0.007. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in the total hospital length of stay.
Among patients with COPD, there was a significant increase in ED visit per one year that leads to more hospitalization among patients with low adherence compared to patients with high adherence. This study highlights the importance of improving the medication adherence in patients with COPD.
关于沙特阿拉伯慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）药物依从性的信息和研究非常有限。我们假设，我们的三级医院 COPD 药物的依从性较差，可能导致频繁的急诊就诊和更长的住院时间。本研究旨在评估 COPD 患者药物依从性对急诊就诊和住院的影响。
这是一项单中心回顾性观察性研究，纳入了 2017 年 10 月至 2020 年 11 月期间在沙特阿拉伯吉达的一家三级教学医院因 COPD 加重而入院的患者。主要结局是一年内急诊就诊的发生率。次要结局是急诊就诊后的住院和总住院时间。通过固定药物持有率（FMPR）评估药物依从性。得分≥0.80 的患者被归类为高依从组，得分<0.80 的患者为低依从组。
共有 266 例患者入组研究。在这 266 例患者中，139 例为高依从组，127 例为低依从组。高依从组和低依从组在一年内急诊就诊的发生率上有显著差异[62（44.6%）比 73（57.5%）]；P<0.036，急诊就诊后的住院率也有显著差异[26（18.7%）比 42（33.1%）]；P=0.007。然而，两组的总住院时间无显著差异。
在 COPD 患者中，与高依从组相比，低依从组每年急诊就诊次数明显增加，导致更多的患者需要住院治疗。这项研究强调了提高 COPD 患者药物依从性的重要性。
