Prevalence of Treatment Adherence among Attendance at Hemodialysis in Makkah

Abstract

There is remarkable paucity in the studies which identify prevalence of adherence and non-adherence risk factors in hemodialysis patients in Saudi Arabia. Despite the importance of this issue, there are very limited studies which discuss this topic in Saudi Arabia. This study was conducted to identify the prevalence of adherence to hemodialysis attendance, medications, fluid restrictions, and diet restrictions among hemodialysis patients at governmental kidney centers in Makah city in Saudi Arabia in the year 2013. Based on a cross section study design, a sample of 361 hemodialysis patients were selected randomly (stratified random sample) from the list of available patients in three hemodialysis centers at three major governmental hospitals in Makah city, and they were invited to be enrolled in the study after taking their consent. Clinical measures and a valid, reliable Questionnaire (ESRD-AQ) were used to assess adherence of patients to hemodialysis attendance, medications, fluid restrictions, and diet restrictions. The prevalence of hemodialysis patients’ adherence to dietary, fluid restrictions recommendations and medication prescription were 88.37%, 87.78% and 87.99%, respectively and nearly half of patients were adherent
to dialysis sessions (55.96%). The highest adherence rate was for diet restriction (88.37%) and the lowest was for attendance to dialysis sessions (55.96%). The overall adherence rates in our study population were thought to be within the range of most published international studies.