The Relationship between Health Beliefs and their Adaptation to Drug Use in Patients with Chronic Disease

Aim: This study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between health beliefs about medication use and treatment adherence of individuals who applied to the family health center and had hypertension, diabetes, or COPD. Method: The study sample consisted of 210 patients. Data were collected using the Introductory Information Form, the Drugs Use Health Belief Scale, and the Medication Adherence and Prescription Renewal Scale. Frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, Pearson correlation test, and one-way ANOVA were used to analyze the data. Results: When health beliefs regarding medication use were compared according to the type of chronic disease, no difference was found between the groups. When treatment adherence was compared, statistically significant differences were found between hypertension and COPD patients at very high level (p<0.001) and between diabetes and COPD patients at a high level (p<0.01). There was a significant negative correlation between patients' perceptions of health beliefs and their compliance with treatment at a good level for diabetes patients, a moderate level for hypertension patients, and a weak level for COPD patients. Conclusions: It was determined that patients' adherence to treatment increased with improvement in their perception of health beliefs. The level of treatment adherence of COPD patients was higher than the other groups. Further studies examining the effect of education and counseling interventions to improve patients' health belief perceptions positively and to increase adherence to treatment are recommended.