Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Rheumatology and Rehabilitation

Aim: Behçet{u2019}s disease (BD) is a chronic systemic vasculitis, in which adherence to treatment is essential for successful management.This study evaluated medication adherence in BD and factors potentially affecting it. Patients and Methods: Sixty-seven patients with BD were included. Patients were interviewed to assess a) socioeconomic status using the family socioeconomic status questionnaire (SES) for health research in Egypt b) treatment adherence using the compliance questionnaire of rheumatology (CQR), c) beliefs about medications through the Beliefs about Medication Questionnaire (BMQ), and d) quality of life using the short form 36 (SF36). Results: The study included 67 patients including 57 (85%) male. The mean age of onset was 35.1±9.27 years, while the mean disease duration was 129±91 months. The median of the CQR was 70; upon which the patients were divided into adherent [N=38 (57%)] and non-adherent groups [N=29 (43%)]. Apart from beliefs about medications, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups. Predictors for medication adherence were; the score of the health care domain of the SES (Ý=0.38; P=0.004), necessity beliefs of the BMQ (Ý=0.82; P=0.002) and emotional wellbeing and social functioning scores of the SF 36 (Ý=0.3 and 0.38; P=0.03 and 0.006, respectively), while neurological involvement and occurrence of side effects predicted non-adherence to treatment (Ý=-0.29 and -0.35; P=0.028 and 0.009, respectively). Conclusions: The frequency of adherence to treatment in BD is suboptimal. Several predictors of adherence were identified

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