Adherence to Nucleoside/Nucleotide Analogue Treatment in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B

BACKGROUND: Adherence to medication is an important aspect of preventing drug resistance and treatment failure in patients receiving nucleos(t)ide analogues for chronic hepatitis B. AIMS: To assess adherence to nucleoside/nucleotide analogues in chronic hepatitis B treatment and to determine factors associated with non-adherence. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: The study enrolled 85 chronic hepatitis B patients who had been receiving nucleoside/nucleotide analogues for ≥3 months. A questionnaire was completed by patients themselves, and adherence was evaluated based on patients’ self-reporting. The use of at least 95% of the drugs in the previous month was considered as adequate adherence. RESULTS: Adherence was adequate in 82.4% of patients. Female gender (p=0.003), unemployment (p=0.041) and lower monthly family income (p=0.001) were related to lower adherence. Better adherence was significantly linked to adequate basic knowledge regarding chronic hepatitis B (p=0.049), longer treatment duration than 12 months (p<0.001), previous use of other medications for chronic hepatitis B (p=0.014) and regular follow-up by the same physician (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Counselling patients about their disease state and the consequences of non-adherence is an important intervention for enhancing adherence. Naïve patients should be followed up more frequently to reinforce adherence.