Adherence and treatment satisfaction in liver transplant recipients

Liver transplantation (LT) is a life-saving intervention for patients with liver failure. LT recipients' adherence to their therapeutic regimen is an essential element for graft survival. According to WHO, the impact of medication non-adherence in solid organ transplantation has shown to cost $15-100 million annually. The aim of the present study was to identify the factors that best predict medication adherence and to explore the relationship between treatment satisfaction and medication adherence in liver transplant recipients.

Adult liver transplant patients at King Abdulaziz Medical City were included in the study. Patients completed the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) and the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM 1.4) in addition to several socio-demographic and transplant-related data.

A total of 154 patients were included in the study and of these 59.7% were adherent. Older age was a significant predictor of adherence (P < 0.05). The mean treatment satisfaction score was 91.9 ± 12.7 in Effectiveness, 80.0 ± 25.9 in Side Effects, 83.5 ± 15.7 in Convenience, and 94.6 ± 8.6 in Global Satisfaction. Further analysis indicated that patients in the adherent group had reported significantly higher satisfaction scores than those in the non-adherent group (P < 0.05) in all treatment satisfaction domains: Effectiveness (94.4 ± 10.4 vs. 88.6 ± 14.8), Side Effects (83.9 ± 22.0 vs. 74.2 ± 30.1), Convenience (87.0 ± 13.9 vs. 77.2 ± 16.1), and Global Satisfaction (96.9 ± 6.6 vs. 91.2 ± 8.6).

Older patients and those who were more satisfied with their treatment tend to have better adherence to the prescribed medications. Therefore, increasing patients' satisfaction with their treatment should be an integral element of future care plans designed to improve treatment outcomes in liver transplant recipients.