Psychosocial predictors of patient adherence to disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis

OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to identify the impact of psychosocial predictors, specifically relationship style, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, cognitive impairment, and culture-specific disease beliefs, on treatment adherence for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. METHODS: In this cross-sectional observational study, patients from two MS clinics in Saudi Arabia completed self-reported questionnaires focused on MS treatment adherence, physical symptom burden, relationship style, cultural beliefs, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and cognitive impairment. RESULTS: A total of 163 MS patients participated, 81.6% of them were female, and the mean age of the patients was 31.6 years. Mean patient-reported adherence to their MS treatment regimen was 79.47%±25.26%. Multivariate linear regression analysis only identified patients’ belief that their MS was due to “supernatural” forces as being significantly negatively associated with MS medication adherence. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the importance of cultural interpretations to MS medication adherence in comparison to psychosocial factors. Education and family involvement in the treatment planning may address this issue and warrant further research.