Medication compliance among renal transplant patients: a Hospital Kuala Lumpur experience

This survey aims to identify prevalence, reasons and predictors of noncompliance among renal transplant patients followed up in Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL). All adult renal transplant patients who were at least 6 months post transplant were recruited from 10/2001 till 5/2002. Patients who consented were interviewed by a medical doctor or research assistant based on questionnaire. Noncompliers were defined as those who missed or self adjusted any dose of immunosuppressant within the preceding 4 weeks. Inter-rater agreement was assessed prior by Kappa (K) scores and they were acceptable. Out of 304 patients, 246 patients volunteered; of whom 144 (58.5%) were males. Twenty-one (9.3%) were noncompliers. Reasons for noncompliance included forgetfulness (n=8), financial constraints (n=1), fear of rejection (n=1), side effects (n=9), decision not to take (n=6), difficulty in breaking medication into correct dosages (n=1). Significant predictors of noncompliance were longer duration of transplant noncompliance to other drugs, regular use of nonprescription drugs; the lack of symptoms of fat facial cheeks and infection. Surveillance for noncompliance should not be relaxed as its predictors are diverse and persistent, especially in those who are at high risks.