Facilitators and barriers to medication adherence with adjuvant endocrine therapy in women with breast cancer: a structural equation modelling approach.
Tan EH., Wong ALA., Tan CC., Wong P., Tan SH., Ang LEY., Lim SE., Chong WQ., Ho J., Lee SC., Tai BC.
PURPOSE: To identify a structure to explain the relationship between socio-clinico factors, necessity-concerns beliefs, and perceived barriers to adherence with adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) amongst women with breast cancer. METHODS: Participants were 244 patients with early-stage breast cancer recruited from two tertiary hospitals from May 2015 to December 2018 who completed questionnaires on medication adherence (Simplified Medication Adherence Questionnaire), necessity-concerns beliefs (Beliefs about Medicine Questionnaire), and barriers to adherence (Adherence Starts with Knowledge Questionnaire). Socio-clinico variables were collected via interview and medical records review. Structural equation modelling was applied to examine the relationships between these variables and possible mediating effects of necessity-concerns beliefs on adherence to AET. RESULTS: The median age of the study participants was 61 (range 32-80) years and the median duration on AET was 1.6 (IQR 1.2-2.6) years. Adherence was positively associated with age (β = 0.145, 95% CI: 0.011 to 0.279, p = 0.034) and negatively associated with barriers (β = - 0.381, 95% CI: - 0.511 to - 0.251, p