Patients' beliefs and attitudes about their treatment for inflammatory bowel disease in Korea.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Adherence to medication during the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is important in terms of maintaining remission. According to studies on adherence to medication in other chronic diseases, non-adherence is associated with negative attitudes to treatment. The aims of this study were to assess adherence rates and IBD patients' beliefs and attitudes regarding medication using a questionnaire based approach. METHODS: Two hundred and eighty seven patients from three tertiary hospitals were enrolled and completed a questionnaire that addressed adherence (Medication Adherence Report Scale, MARS), beliefs, and attitudes to medication (Beliefs about Medications Questionnaire, BMQ). RESULTS: Using a cutoff score of 16/20 for MARS, 64 (22.3%) patients did not adhere to medication. According to attitude analysis conducted using the BMQ, 41.8% of the 287 study subjects felt high necessity but low concern for the medication ("accepting") and 34.8% felt high necessity and concern ("ambivalent"). Multivariate analysis showed significantly lower adherence to medication among younger patients, patients with experience of adverse effects to medication, patients with demanding jobs, and for those with an "indifferent" or "skeptical" attitude regarding the benefits of medication. On the other hand, IBD patients with "accepting" attitude adhered to medication. CONCLUSION: Twenty-two percent of IBD patients were non-adherent to medical treatment, and belief of the need for medication was found to significantly enhance adherence. Interventions, such as education about the efficacy and safety of medications, should be considered to facilitate adherence to medical treatment among IBD patients.