Abstract:

Aim: The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between medication adherence and health literacy of individuals with a chronic disease in a rural area. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 332 people over 18 years of age in two villages in the rural area of Aydın, a province of Western Turkey. The data were collected through a face-to-face interview technique by means of a questionnaire including questions about socio-demographic and health conditions, Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 and European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire between March-October 2022. Chi-squared test and logistic regression analysis were used to evaluate the relationship between medication adherence and health literacy. Results: Among the respondents 56.7% were female and the mean age of the respondents was 61.99±9.66. While 67.2% of the participants had low treatment adherence, 32.8% had moderate treatment adherence, there was no participant with high treatment adherence. Among the respondents, 64.2% had insufficient health literacy. Medication adherence was 2.2 times (95% CI 1.44-3.95) higher in men, 2.6 times (1.14- 4.04) higher in people with good and perfect health literacy levels, 3.6 times (2.65-6.68) higher in people who had regular health checks, 0.5 times (0.27-0.86) lower in people who followed their diet and 0.3 times (0.15-0.77) lower in people who had not been hospitalized. Conclusion: This study conducted on participants with a chronic disease in a rural area found that these people had low levels of medication adherence and health literacy. Additionally, health literacy was determined to be an important factor that affected medication adherence. If primary healthcare centers providing healthcare services especially in rural areas follow individuals with chronic diseases closely and take actions to improve their health literacy levels, this will contribute to increasing medication adherence.

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