Treatment adherence, health status, and problem orientation in patients with chronic heart failure

Individuals coping with a diagnosis of chronic heart failure (CHRONIC HF) are confronted with many life-style changes, some of which include modifying eating habits, initiating an exercise program, taking numerous and different medications, and monitoring of weight for fluid retention on a daily basis. Although many patients succeed at adhering to a CHRONIC HF medical regimen, others find such adjustments difficult to make.Countless studies have investigated the nature of treatment adherence, however few studies yield consistent explanatory evidence and the medical community continues to be faced with this dilemma. The present study investigated the relationship between treatment adherence, health status, and problem orientation in a sample of patients diagnosed with chronic heart failure. Participants consisted of 61 individuals from the impatient and outpatient services and Hahnemann University Heart Failure-Transplant Center.Multiple regressions were performed in order to answer several hypotheses; health status will predict one’s level of adherence to medical treatment, problem orientation will predict one’s level of adherence to medical treatments, and problem orientation will moderate the relationship between treatment adherence and health status. Separate multiple regressions were performed for independent variable health status for each outcome variable, patient report general treatment adherence, patient report disease specific treatment adherence, nurse report general treatment adherence, and nurse report disease specific treatment adherence. Negative problem orientation was found to predict treatment adherence on several outcome measures including, patient report general treatment adherence, patient report disease specific treatment adherence, and nurse report general treatment adherence. However, the hypotheses health status will predict one’s level of adherence to medical treatment and problem orientation will moderate the relationship between treatment adherence and health status was not found to be significant.The results generated from this study may offer important information for health care professionals. Specifically, problem orientation may be used as a treatment indicator or “red flag” where those individuals who are experiencing orientation related difficulties may be offered additional support as a way to increase adherent behavior.Ph.D., Clinical Psychology -- Drexel University, 200