Non-Adherence to Anti-Epileptic Drugs and Associated Factors among Epileptic Patients in Dessie Town Public Hospitals, Northeast Ethiopia

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Patients who are non-adherent to their medication are frequently hospitalized with prolonged lengths of stay and make repeated emergency department visits. They are also more likely to miss work or school due to the seizure effects. In Ethiopia, although there is little evidence concerning anti-epileptic drug adherence, some studies were conducted with some controversy with studies done in another country. This study was therefore conducted to assess non-adherence to antiepileptic drugs and associated factors among adult epileptic patients attending in Dessie town public hospitals, northeast Ethiopia. METHODS: Hospital-based cross-sectional study design was employed on 368 patients from January 16, 2018 to March 16, 2018. A systematic random sampling technique was employed to recruit study participants. The collected data were entered into EpiData 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 22.0 for analysis. All covariates that were significant at p-value <0.25 in the bivariate logistic regression analysis were considered for further multivariable logistic regression analysis level of statistical significance at p-value <0.05. RESULTS: Among the respondents, 37.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 32.1–42.9) of them were non-adhered to antiepileptic drugs. Patients who were unable to write and read (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 22.30; 95% CI, 5.84–85.21), primary education level (aOR, 5.63; 95% CI, 1.90–16.69), being male (aOR, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.33–4.23), experience adverse effect (aOR, 13.68; 95% CI, 3.27–56.97), patients got medication by payment (aOR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.04–4.11) were statistically associated with non-adherence. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that over one-third of participants were non-adherent to antiepileptic drugs. Sex, educational level, adverse effect, and medication source were independent factors for non-adherence to antiepileptic drugs. Therefore, educations and instructions about the importance of recommended drug use can improve antiepileptic drug adherence in patients with epilepsy.