Adherence to Inhalers and Associated Factors Among Adult Asthma Patients: an Outpatient Based Study in a Tertiary Hospital of Rajshahi, Bangladesh

Background: Adherence to inhaler medication is an important contributor of optimum asthma control along with adequate pharmacotherapy. The objective of the present study was to assess self-reported adherence level and to identify the potential factors associated with non-adherence to the inhalers among asthma patients. Methods: : This facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the medicine outpatient department of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital from November 2020 to January 2021. A total of 357 clinically confirmed adult asthma patients were interviewed. Inhaler adherence was measured using the 10-item Test of Adherence scale (TAI). . Both descriptive and inferential statistics was used to express the socio-demographic of the patients and predictors of poor adherence to inhaler. Results: : A substantial number of participants were non-adherent (86%) to inhaler medication. Patient non-adherent to inhaler medication are often younger (23.15, 95% CI 3.67-146.08), lived in rural area ( 23.28, 95% CI 2.43-222.66), less year of schooling (5.69, 95% CI 1.27-25.44), and belonged to the middle income (aOR 9.74, 95% CI 2.11-44.9) than those adherent with inhaler. Presence of comorbidities (12.91, 95% CI 1.41-117.61), prolonged duration of inhaler intake (5.69, 95% CI 1.22-26.49), consulting non-qualified practitioners (13.09, 95% CI 3.10-55.26) were the significant contributor of non-adherence. Conclusion: Despite ongoing motivation and treatment, non-adherence to inhalation anti-asthmatic is high and several factors have been found contributed. Regular monitoring and a guided patient centered self-management approach might be helpful to address the in long run.