Anti- asthmatic Medications Adherence Assessment and Associated Factors among Asthmatic Undergraduates in University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State

Evidence revealed that less than half of patients who suffer from asthma are adherent to their medications. Striving for improved adherence and asthma control is of vital concern in today's asthma management. In a recent document, the World health organization recognized lack of adherence as a major problem in management of chronic disease and concluded that improving adherence would have more beneficial impact on health outcome than improving specific treatment, but study findings addressing its magnitude and associated factors are limited in the country hence, current study was aimed to assess the level of medication adherence among asthmatic undergraduates. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on a total of 113 asthmatic undergraduates students who gave their consent to participate in the study. Participants recruited were in Faculties of: Law 18, Sciences 38, Agriculture 36, and Pharmacy 21. Data was collected using structured questionnaire to collect information on socio- demographic, type of medication/s used, medication dose miss as a measure of adherence, and factors responsible for the non-adherence. The data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2016. The outputs of different study findings were presented using tables, pie and bar charts accordingly. Results: Among 113 respondents 68(60.2%) were female and 45(39.8%) were male. Majority 99(87.6%) of the respondents were within the age range of 18yrs-25yrs, and 5(4.4%) were >30yrs. Overall, 80(71%) of the respondents were non-adherent as regards to missing medication doses as only 33(29%) do not miss their medication doses. The adherence level among Faculty of Law asthmatic undergraduates was significantly lowest (p<0.05), 3(16.67%), compared to those in Agriculture,12(33.3%, Sciences18(47.4%) and Pharmacy, 15(71.4%). The most common factor affecting adherence was, forgetting to take the medications, 30(62.5%) while 15(27.8%) reported that drugs were expensive, yet, most of the respondents source their medications from private pharmacies, and none obtain their medications from government facility (University health center). 9.1% of respondents reported that they use traditional medicine as alternative treatment, and the same proportion use religious (prayers) as alternatives to asthma medications. Conclusion: The level of adherence to medications among asthmatic undergraduates was generally low. Adherence level among Faculty of Pharmacy participants was higher when compared to Faculty of Law, Sciences, and Agriculture. The major factors for missing doses were ranked in descending order from forgetfulness, to too many classes or busy, to fear of medication side effects to stigmatization.