Adherence to therapy among liver transplant patients as related to depression, anxiety, acceptance of the disease, and social support

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the patients' adherence to therapeutic regimens after liver transplantation, taking into account the levels of depression and anxiety, ac-ceptance of the disease, and social support.PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study group included N = 112 patients selected from 669 patients after liver transplantation. The Delphi method was used to develop a tool to assess the level of adherence to treatment regimens. The sources of data for this study were recom-mendations and the work of an expert panel. The next method used in the study was a diagnostic survey based on the following standardized re-search instruments: Inventory of Socially Sup-portive Behaviors (ISSB), Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).RESULTS: The study group showed a medi-um level of adherence to therapeutic recommen-dations (6.8 & PLUSMN; 1.85). We observed a statistically significant positive correlation between accep-tance of the disease and adherence to therapeu-tic recommendations (r =-0.20, t =-2.040, p = 0.044). Among the factors analyzed, six predic-tors were identified that significantly affect the level of adherence to therapeutic recommenda-tions in a group of liver transplant patients.CONCLUSIONS: 1. Patients who accept their disease are a group of people who significantly worse adhere to therapeutic recommendations. 2. The main positive predictors of treatment ad-herence in the group of transplant patients are the search for various sources of information and declarative adherence to treatment recom-mendations. Negative predictors include the du -ration of the disease, side effects of the appliedtreatment, and comorbidities. 3. The patients who were informed that results depend on reg-ular medication intake significantly more often followed therapeutic recommendations.