Satisfaction with and adherence to warfarin treatment: A cross-sectional study among Sudanese patients

BACKGROUND: Satisfaction with and adherence to oral anticoagulant treatment are important measures that decrease morbidity and mortality. Higher satisfaction and adherence to warfarin therapy was found to be associated among other factors with good International Normalized Ratio (INR) control. OBJECTIVES: To assess patient satisfaction with and adherence to oral anticoagulant therapy and to identify predictors of the two studied domains. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Cardiothoracic Clinic in Alshaab Teaching Hospital; Khartoum; Sudan during March-April 2015. A representative sample of patients on oral anticoagulant treatment was recruited. Data was collected through face-to-face interview method using oral Anti-Clot Treatment Scale (ATCS) to measure satisfaction and the 4-items Morisky Scale to measure adherence to therapy. Data was processed using SPSS. Logistic regression analysis was performed. P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 93 patients was included, of them 46 were males. Overall, 47 (50.5%) were classified as satisfied with anti-clot treatment. Patients attained secondary and above educational level were approximately 8 times more satisfied with their anti-clot treatment, compared to those educated below this level, [OR 7.9 (2.9–21.7), P < 0.001]. Similarly, patients currently working were found to be approximately 3 times more satisfied with warfarin therapy, compared those who had no jobs, [OR 2.9 (1.1–7.6), P = 0.035]. Overall, 5.4% of the patients were found to be adherent to warfarin therapy. No definite background characteristic variable was found to be associated with adherence to treatment. No association was found between patient satisfaction and adherence to treatment, (P = 0.490). CONCLUSIONS: Ensuring health education on warfarin together with continuous patients motivation are needed, specifically among patients with low educational level. Efficient multidisciplinary effort from all healthcare providers is needed to make warfarin treatment more successful.