Factors Associated with Medication Beliefs in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

ObjectiveaaMedication beliefs are a significant determinant of medication adherence in chronic illness. This study aimed to identify demographic, clinical, and medication-related factors associated with medication beliefs in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).MethodsaaWe used a descriptive cross-sectional design with a convenience sample of 173 PD patients who had been taking antiparkinson drugs for more than one year.ResultsaaThe subjects who believed PD medication was more necessary had more severe illness, younger age of onset, longer illness duration, and longer duration of levodopa therapy. They had higher levels of non-motor symptoms and depression, number of medication uses, number of drugs, and levodopa equivalent dose, and they reported fluctuation of motor symptoms and dyskinesia. The subjects who used catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors, dopamine agonists, amantadine, and monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) inhibitors had significantly higher necessity scores than those who did not use them. The subjects who had higher concerns about PD medications had higher levels of non-motor symptoms and depression. The subjects using amantadine and anticholinergics had significantly higher concern scores than those who did not use them. Positive necessity-concerns differentials were associated with severe illness, the presence of motor fluctuation and dyskinesia, and the use of COMT inhibitors. Based on stepwise multiple regression, the most significant factors influencing necessity beliefs were severe illness, followed by depression and motor fluctuation.ConclusionaaSevere illness, higher levels of depression, and motor fluctuation are independent factors influencing patients' beliefs regarding medication necessity. Therefore, these characteristics should be considered in medication belief assessment and interventions for PD patients.

Factors Related to Beliefs about Medication in Ischemic Stroke Patients

“…However, the rate of indifference with low awareness of necessity and concern about medication is 10.1% in the mRS 0-1 group, which is higher than that of the mRS 2-5 group (3.9%). These results are consistent with previous studies that find that the higher the cancer stage in cancer patients [10], and the higher Hoehn and Yahr stage in Parkinson's patients [12], the higher the perceived necessity for and beliefs about medication.…”

“…The mean medication belief score in our study is 7.1 (a necessity score of 19.4 and a concern score of 12.3). This is slightly lower than the mean belief score of 7.9 (a necessity score of 21.0 and a concern score of 13.1) for kidney transplant patients using immunosuppressant medication [23], but is significantly higher than 4.0 (a necessity score of 17.6 and a concern score of 13.6), and 5.3 (a necessity score of 18.6 and a concern score of 13.3) for hypertensive [24] and Parkinson's patients [12], respectively. We believe these differences are based on the severity of each disease, with a higher severity raising awareness of the necessity for medication, which in turn leads to stronger belief in the efficacy of medications.…”

“…For this reason, it is important to identify factors that influence patients' medication concerns, and those that influence their perception of the medication's necessity. However, while previous studies examine beliefs about medication as an antecedent factor affecting medication adherence [6,7], few studies investigate factors that affect beliefs about medication [10][11][12], especially in stroke patients.…”

Effect of Pillbox Organizers with Alarms on Adherence to Pharmacotherapy in Parkinson Disease Patients Taking Three and More Daily Doses of Dopaminergic Medications

“…Dopamine agonists with prolonged or sustained release delayed onset of treatment complications by three years, which is closer to the concept of continuous dopaminergic stimulation [35,36]. As previous research shows, nonadherence is strongly associated with more severe motor complications (fluctuations and dyskinesias) [10,28,37,38]. Our study indicated that fluctuations were reduced (according to MDS-UPDRS IV and WOQ-9 score) after 4 weeks of using the pillbox organizer with alarm in both groups.…”

Lycium barbarum polysaccharide improves dopamine metabolism and symptoms in an MPTP-induced model of Parkinson’s disease

“…Most patients with PD adopt drug therapy; gene-and cell-based treatments have not achieved great breakthroughs in therapy. Medications include L-dopa (LD), dopamine agonists, anticholinergics, amantadine, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, and catecholamine-Omethyltransferase inhibitors [16,17]. Regular use of LD is beneficial to patients with PD in the long term [18].…”