METHODS: A cross-sectional study using pre-validated questionnaire was conducted among patients with chronic diseases at outpatient pharmacy in a hospital in Penang, Malaysia from April to June 2021.
RESULTS: Of 270 patients participated in this study, 87.8% were interested in chronic disease self-management. Nonetheless, they faced common barriers including time constraint (71.1%), no health monitoring devices (44.1%) and poor health knowledge (43.0%). More than half of the patients expressed that having a better knowledge of the disease and its treatment (64.1%), getting supportive guidance from healthcare providers (59.6%) and having monitoring devices (58.1%) were the top three facilitators to self-management. The patients preferred chronic disease self-management programs that (a) discuss the topic of motivation (b) are available both as mobile applications and hands-on training, (c) individual session, (d) range between 1 and 5 sessions with a duration of 1 to 2 h/session, (e) occurring on monthly basis, (f) conducted by doctor or healthcare professionals and (g) fully sponsored by government or at affordable fee.
CONCLUSION: The findings serve as pre-requisite step in future design and development of chronic disease self-management program, targeting the patients' needs and preferences.
METHODS: Using data from 18,101 individuals (aged 18-97 years) from the baseline Census 2012, Health Round 2013, and Verbal Autopsies 2012-2023 of the South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO) health and demographic surveillance system, latent class analysis was performed on 13 chronic health conditions to identify statistically and clinically meaningful groups. Multinomial logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression models were conducted to investigate the adjusted association of multimorbidity patterns with the risk factors and mortality, respectively. HRQoL was analyzed by linear contrasts in conjunction with ANCOVA adjusted for baseline confounders.
RESULTS: Four distinct multimorbidity latent classes were identified: (1) relatively healthy (n = 10,640); (2) cardiometabolic diseases (n = 2428); (3) musculoskeletal, mobility and sensory disorders (n = 2391); and (4) complex multimorbidity (a group with more severe multimorbidity with combined profiles of classes 2 and 3) (n = 699). Significant variations in associations between socio-demographic characteristics and multimorbidity patterns were discovered, including age, sex, ethnicity, education level, marital status, household monthly income and employment status. The complex multimorbidity group had the lowest HRQoL across all domains compared to other groups (p
METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Karachi in September 2017, using grounded theory and inductive approach. Interviews were conducted using a checklist in Urdu language from patients of chronic illnesses determined based on medicines dispensed from the out-patient pharmacy in hospital. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, translated in English and validated. The translated quotations were analysed using a qualitative analysis software, and thematic analysis was conducted. Codes were generated and analysed by semantic linkages and network analysis using ATLAS.ti qualitative research software.
RESULTS: Of the 16 patients interviewed, 8(50%) were males and 8(50%) were females. Barriers to medication adherence identified were patient behaviour (intentional and un-intentional non-adherence), comorbidity and pill burden, cost-related non-adherence, and low patient knowledge. The last barrier was associated with the rest.
CONCLUSIONS: Counselling has the potential to increase patient knowledge regarding medication use, and active pharmacist-physician collaboration can improve medication adherence..
METHODS: The study involved 1790 community-dwelling older adults aged 60 and above living with at least one chronic medical condition. The Satisfaction with Life Scale and Revised Intrinsic/Extrinsic Religious Orientation Scale were used to measure life satisfaction and religious orientation. Moderated hierarchical multiple regression was used to test the moderation effect.
RESULTS: Results showed that while intrinsic religiosity was positively associated with life satisfaction, extrinsic religiosity was found to have a negative relationship with life satisfaction. Gender moderated the association between intrinsic religiosity and life satisfaction.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggested that the positive impact of intrinsic religiosity on life satisfaction was stronger in older women living with morbidity and multimorbidity. Healthcare practitioners can help disadvantaged older women in identifying their religious values and practices to improve their subjective wellbeing.
AIMS: This study aimed to determine common combinations of medications used among women aged 77-96 years and to describe characteristics associated with these combinations.
METHODS: A cohort study of older women enroled in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health over a 15-year period was used to determine combinations of medications using latent class analysis. Multinomial logistic regression was used to determine characteristics associated with these combinations.
RESULTS: The highest medication users during the study were for the cardiovascular (2003: 80.28%; 2017: 85.63%) and nervous (2003: 66.03%; 2017: 75.41%) systems. A 3-class latent model described medication use combinations: class 1: 'Cardiovascular & neurology anatomical group' (27.25%) included participants using medications of the cardiovascular and nervous systems in their later years; class 2: 'Multiple anatomical group' (16.49%) and class 3: 'Antiinfectives & multiple anatomical group' (56.27%). When compared to the reference class (class 1), the risk of participants being in class 3 was slightly higher than being in class 2 if they had > 4 general practitioner visits (RRR 2.37; 95% CI 2.08, 2.71), Department of Veterans Affairs' coverage (RRR 1.59; 95% CI 1.36, 1.86), ≥ 4 chronic diseases (RRR 3.16; 95% CI 2.56, 3.90) and were frail (RRR 1.47; 95% CI 1.27, 1.69).
CONCLUSION: Identification of combinations of medication use may provide opportunities to develop multimorbidity guidelines and target medication reviews, and may help reduce medication load for older individuals.