Multi-Morbidity and Medication Adherence among Adults in Urban Mysuru: A Cross-Sectional Study

A BSTRACT Background and Objective: Multi-morbidity, the co-existence of two or more chronic conditions, poses a significant public health challenge, particularly in the urban areas. Medication adherence is the crucial for managing these conditions, but is often poor among individuals with multi-morbidity, resulting in poorer health outcomes. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of medication adherence, among adults with multi morbidity and to determine the factors associated with medication adherence in them. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted over three months with 300 adults with at least two chronic conditions. Data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire including socio-demographic factors, and the General Medication Adherence Scale (GMAS) was used to assess adherence. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 26. Chi-square test was used to find the association between variables and medication adherence and logistic regression determined the factors predicting medication adherence. Results: Mean age of participants was 58 ± 11.85 years, with 68.7% being female. High medication adherence prevalence was 41.7%. Variables including gender, education, occupation, family type, socio-economic status, social support, health insurance coverage, type of health facility accessing, smoking status, alcohol use, number of chronic conditions, and number of medications in a day were significantly associated with adherence ( P < 0.05). Increased medication burden (≥5 medications/day) was linked to lower adherence (AOR = 0.372, P = 0.005). Conclusion: Multi-morbidity is linked to lower medication adherence, with key influencing factors including total medications taking per day, type of family and lack of social support. These findings underscore the urgent need for tailored interventions to address these barriers, promoting better adherence and ultimately improving health outcomes in this vulnerable population.