Marital status among factors tied to gout Rx adherence

(HealthDay)—For patients with gout, higher levels of belief about medicines, presence of comorbidity, and being married appear to increase urate-lowering therapy adherence, according to a study published online June 15 in the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

Xin Hui Jasmine Chua, R.N., from the National University Hospital in Singapore, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive correlation study involving a convenience sample of 108 outpatients with gout recruited from a tertiary hospital in Singapore.

The researchers found that the mean adherence level was moderate, although 44.4 percent of participants were high adherers to urate-lowering therapy. Among subgroups of gender, ethnicity, marital status, employment status, and presence of comorbidity, significant differences in medication adherence scores were seen. There were positive significant correlations for medication adherence with age, number of comorbidities, and beliefs about medicines. Higher levels of beliefs about medicines, presence of comorbidity, and being married positively influenced medication adherence.

"Future research should be conducted to develop interventions targeted at modifying patients' beliefs about medicines in order to improve medication adherence," the authors write.