Abstract
Objective: The patients' understanding of treatment plan and patient education in general are very important factors in compliance especially in those patients with a chronic illness. There are no existing studies understanding the treatment plan and compliance in Saudi Arabia. Therefore the present study was to examine the relationship between patients' understanding of treatment plan and their compliance to it.
Subjects and Methods: A cross sectional study, in primary care clinics in King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The survey was composed of a validated questionnaire which consisted of three parts: personal information, treatment plan, and patient compliance to treatment. Predictive Analytics Software was used for data analysis.
Results: A total of 80 patients participated, of whom 71 completed the questionnaire. The study response rate was 88.7%. There was a significant correlation between acknowledgement and total compliance (r=.25, p-value=0.05). More than half of respondents (66.2%) committed to a treatment plan from their view point. The result revealed a significant correlation (r=.63, p-value=0.01) between compliance of patients from their view point and total compliance. A third of respondents (32.9%) rely on physicians as a source of information. 46.5% and 53.5% depended on trust and non-trust resources of information respectively. 80.3% agreed to be more adherent to compliance if treatment plans are explained to them.
Conclusion: The results stress on the importance of effective communication between the patients and physicians, not only to enhance medication compliance, but to improve overall healthcare outcome.