Analysis of factors affecting treatment adherence in patients with keloid disease

The objective of this study is to investigate treatment adherence and factors influencing adherence in patients with keloid disease (KD). A treatment adherence questionnaire was administered to 141 patients with KD treated at Department of Dermatology, Wuhan Asia General Hospital. We analyzed treatment adherence rates and explored the association between adherence and various factors such as sex, age, monthly income, disease course, number of lesions, skin lesion diameter and width, educational background, presence of pruritus or pain symptoms, professional knowledge, and patient training with medication guidance. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses of these factors were performed using SPSS software. The overall treatment adherence rate among patients with KD was 55.32%, with a non-adherence rate of 44.68%. Univariate analysis revealed that sex, age, education level, marital status, monthly personal income, associated symptoms, professional knowledge, patient training with medication guidance, and the number of attending physicians were factors associated with treatment adherence, with significant differences (P < 0.05) between the adherent and non-adherent groups. Sex, age, monthly personal income, presence of pruritus or pain, and patient training with medication guidance were identified as independent factors contributing to poor adherence in patients with KD through our multivariate analysis (P < 0.05). In this study, we noted that treatment adherence in patients with KD was influenced by multiple factors (Sex, monthly personal income, age, presence of accompanying symptoms, patient training with medication guidance). All significantly affected treatment adherence in patients, with age and the presence of pruritus or pain being primary contributors to low treatment adherence.