Objective:
Non-compliance with heart failure medication is rel
ated to the highest mortality, morbidity, and healt
h-care costs. The objective of this
study was to evaluate medication compliance with pa
tients with congestive heart failure.
Methods
: Inpatients of the cardiac care unit and medical w
ard of Republican Hospital, German Hospital, Revolut
ionary Hospital, and Chinese–
Yemeni Friendship Hospital were recruited for this
study. The study was conducted on patients that wer
e diagnosed as having congestive heart
failure and were receiving treatment. Questionnaire
s were distributed and personal interviews to evalu
ate the patients’ compliance was conducted
to determine the reasons for their non-compliance i
n taking drugs.
Results:
Of 86 patients, 44% (n = 38) reported compliance an
d 56% (n = 48) reported non-compliance. The distrib
ution of the patients in terms of
sex was as follows: among men, 41% (n = 24) were co
mpliant and 59% (n = 35) were non-compliant; among
women, 52% (n = 14) were compliant
and 48% (n = 13) were non-compliant. In addition, s
moking status was too significantly linked with non
-compliance (
P
= 0.001). Furthermore, the
status of chewing of khat tree leaves was also sign
ificantly associated with non-compliance (
P
= 0.007).
Conclusion:
This study indicates that the reasons for non-compl
iance with medications among patients can be attrib
uted to lack of education,
chewing of khat tree leaves, lack of health insuran
ce, and cigarette smoking. Therefore, healthcare pr
ofessionals should create strategies to address
these reasons in order to increase medication compl
iance with patients in heart failure.