The relationship of treatment adherence with illness perception, self-compassion and perceived social support: the mediatory role of life expectancy among patients with cardiovascular diseases

Introduction: Treatment adherence is an indispensable strategy in the management of chronic diseases and can be influenced by various factors. Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the mediatory role of life expectancy in the relationship of treatment adherence with illness perception, self-compassion, and perceived social support among patients with cardiovascular diseases. Method: The present study was correlational and was conducted according to structural equation modeling. The population included all patients with cardiovascular diseases that visited Shahid Madani Heart Center in Tabriz, Iran, during the spring of 2021. Then, 234 patients were selected as the sample using the convenience sampling method. The instruments included Broadbent's Illness Perception Questionnaire, Raes's Self-compassion Scales, Zimet's Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Snyder's Adult Hope Scale, and the Modanloo's Treatment Adherence Scale. Data analysis was conducted using Pearson's correlation test, Path Analysis, and Sobel's test in SPSS-24 and AMOS-24. Results: The findings showed that illness perception, self-compassion, perceived social support, and life expectancy had a direct and significant impacts on treatment adherence, and illness perception, self-compassion, and perceived social supports had a direct and significant impacts on life expectancy (P<0.001). Moreover, the results of the Sobel Test indicated that illness perceptions (β=0.095), self-compassion (β=0.086), and perceived social support (β=0.087) had a significant indirect influence on treatment adherence by the mediation of life expectancy (P<0.01). Conclusion: The findings showed that illness perceptions, self-compassion, and perceived social support increased treatment adherence by the mediation of life expectancy. Thus, goals could be set to train and increase life expectancy and – consequently – treatment adherence in patients with cardiovascular diseases.