Implication Of Character Traits In Adherence To Treatment In People With Gout: A Reason For Considering Nonadherence...

Area of Science:

• Medical research
• Psychology
• Behavioral science

Background:

• Nonadherence to therapy, encompassing both medication and lifestyle, often presents as a combined issue.
• Character traits like patience and obedience may underlie the observed co-occurrence of various nonadherence behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between the character traits of patience and obedience and treatment adherence in patients with gout.
• To explore how these traits might explain the clustering of different nonadherence aspects.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 1441 adult patients in France.
• Patience assessed via a delayed vs. immediate monetary reward choice; obedience via rear seatbelt use.
• Adherence to medication, diet, beverages, physical activity, and smoking status evaluated through self-report questionnaires.

Main Results:

• Patience and obedience were significant predictors of medication adherence in multivariate analysis (OR 2.056 and 1.844, respectively; P<0.001).
• Adherence to medication was also linked to dietary compliance, lower alcohol intake, avoiding soda/beer, physical activity, non-smoking status, and regular uric acid monitoring.
• Multiple correspondence analysis confirmed the association between patience, obedience, and various adherence aspects (medication, diet, exercise, smoking, disease monitoring). A link between patience and obedience was also observed (P<0.001).

Conclusions:

• Character traits, by shaping preferences, can lead to a syndrome of nonadherence, potentially explaining the link between nonadherence and mortality in clinical trials.
• This understanding may offer insights into the challenges of improving long-term therapy adherence and raise ethical considerations.