Pattern and associated factors of adherence to immunosuppressive medications in kidney transplant recipients at a referral center in Iran

Purpose: Ever increasing number of patients who receive kidney transplantation as a therapeutic option, approaches to increase graft survival as well as to identify factors that reduce the treatment outcomes should be taken into account. One of the heightened concerns after transplantation is non-adherence to immunosuppressive medications, which increases the risk of kidney failure or even rejection. The aim of this study was to evaluate factors associated with immunosuppressant medications adherence in kidney transplant recipients. Patients and methods: Data were collected from 100 eligible kidney transplant patients referring to Shiraz Motahhari clinic and a private office of an attending nephrologist during 18 months. Adherence to immunosuppressive medications was assessed by Basel assessment of adherence to immunosuppressive medication scale at 2 time points. Results: According to the findings, 55% of patients did not adhere to their post-transplantation immunosuppressive medications. The rate of adherence to immunosuppressive medications was not either statistically or clinically significant between time points zero and six months. None of the investigated factors including demographic, clinical and social-economical-cultural factors were significantly associated with patients' adherence to immunosuppressive regimen. Furthermore, there was no statistically significant association between immunosuppressive medication adherence and acute kidney rejection. Conclusion: The rate of non-adherence to immunosuppressive medications was high. These data can be exploited by both physicians and policymakers to improve the rate of adherence to immunosuppressive medications amongst kidney transplant recipients.