| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 護理學系碩博士班 === 92 === Coronary heart disease is the most common chronic disease among elderly. Life long treatment is necessary for these patients to control the progress of the disease. However, many reports suggested that 60% of the elderly patients failed to take their medication as prescribed. Instead, the patients may pay multiple visits to doctors. Sometimes, they may even need hospitalization. It not only affects the well-being of the patients, but also contributes to large waste of medical expenditure. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the prescription adherence behaviors of coronary heart disease elderly patients and its related factors.
Cross-sectional correlation design was used. Purposive sampling and face-to-face interview were conducted to recruit 241 patients over 65 years old from OPD with coronary heart diseases who received over one year prescribed medication in one of the medical centers at southern Taiwan. The conceptual framework of this study was based on Chen’s (2001) Drugs Behavioral Model of The Chronic Illness Elderly Patients. The relationship between the prescription adherence behaviors and perceived effects, perceived partnership, perceived reality, and interpersonal influence was explored.
The results showed that the average score of prescription adherence behavior is 4.77, which indicates that the patients would follow physician’s prescription at least 5 to 6 days per week. The medication adherence behaviors were significantly correlated with perceived effects, perceived reality, and interpersonal influence (p < .05). Based on the analysis of stepwise multiple regression, perceived effects and interpersonal influence explained 17% of total variance of prescription adherence behaviors. The findings of this study may assist health professionals to provide more effective strategies to improve the medication quality of the elderly patients.
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