Satisfaction and Adherence to Biological Treatment in Patients with Rheumatic Diseases

Background: Autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases have long been treated by conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. Biological therapy is a new era in the treatment of rheumatic diseases, but satisfaction and adherence to it is still not well tested. Aims: To assess the satisfaction and adherence to biological treatment among patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 56 patients suffering from inflammatory rheumatic diseases using Morisky 8 questionnaire and Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM) over a period of one month. Results: About 76.8 % of the patients had medium adherence and the underlying cause of missing doses was the unavailability of the drugs. The mean satisfaction with biological treatment was 62.7±6.9. Patients who did not receive formal education had significantly higher satisfaction with the biological treatment than others 64.94±5.01 at a P value 0.04 (<0.05). Conclusion: Patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases in our study showed medium adherence and satisfaction. Authorities in the medical field are providing great help to these patients in need of biological therapy, but ensuring the availability of all doses of the biological treatment regimen is still necessary. Patient, family and nurse education programs are also necessary to maximize adherence and satisfaction.