Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Dermatology and Venerology

Background: It is well-known that non-adherence contributes to worsening of medical conditions, increased medical costs, comorbidities and mortalities. Adherence in dermatology varies according to the underlying skin condition. Among the factors that influence adherence; cost, complexity of topical and systemic regimens and healthcare physicians may play a key role. Objective: Our aim was to study the degree of adherence of dermatological patients to topical and systemic medications and to identify the primary cause of non-adherence and its relation to patient, disease, treatment and physician characteristics. Methods: Seven hundred and eighteen patients of both sexes with various dermatological complaints were included.They were all subjected to Morisky 8-item Medication Adherence Scale and a self-constructed interview questionnaire. Results: Topical therapy was associated with a significantly lower adherence when compared to systemic therapy (P<0.001). A significant difference was found in systemic adherence when comparing acute and chronic skin diseases (P=0.008) but not for those using topical modalities (P=0.976). Limitations: Small sample size

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