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Methods: A survey design was employed. The participants were 157 patients with osteoarthritis in a rural community of Korea who were interviewed on adherence to prescribed medications. A direct interview method was carried out in January, 2013. Instruments were the Modified Morisky Scale, the Korean Western Ontario McMaster Universities, the Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire, the Korean Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. The MMS includes three questions each on medication motivation and medication knowledge, which are measured on nominal scale (yes, no). An adherence quadrant is identified by MMS scoring. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and ANOVA.
Results: The mean age of participants was 73.2(SD=8.05), and 80.9% (n=127) were women. The adherence quadrant was identified as 16.6% (n=26) of the participants who were low on both medication motivation and medication knowledge, with being 56.1% (n=88) high both, 13.4% (n=21) having low motivation and high knowledge, and 14.0% (n=22) having high motivation and low knowledge. ANOVA analysis showed that there were significant differences in physical functioning and depression by type of medication adherence (p<.0001), but no difference in pain (p>.05). These results illustrated that those with both high medication motivation and medication knowledge had better physical functioning, and less depression than those low both.
Conclusion: The results indicated that nurses should be aware that 43.9% of patients with osteoarthritis taking a prescribed medicine have low medication motivation or low medication knowledge, or low both. Medication adherence strategies to bridge the gap in medication knowledge and enhance motivation are needed, which mean coaching and empowerment services considering factors related to medication motivation and knowledge.