Investigation of the Relationship Between Health Literacy and Adherence to Immunosuppressive Therapy in Heart Transplant Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study
Makaleler > Tam Makale · 2025
Yazarlar: Nihal ÇELİKTÜRK DORUKER, Tuğba Nur ÖDEN, Fatma DEMİR KORKMAZ
TRANSPLANTATION PROCEEDINGS, SCI Expanded İndekslerine Giren Dergi, Uluslararası, 2025, cilt 57, ss 1816-1821
DOI: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2025.01.008
Özet
<h3>Background</h3><p>Nonadherence to immunosuppressive therapy after heart transplantation, driven by factors such as patient, caregiver, institutional, policy-related issues, and health literacy, leads to rejection and increased mortality. This study investigated the relationship between health literacy and adherence to immunosuppressive therapy in heart transplant patients.</p><h3>Methods</h3><p>The sample of this cross-sectional study consisted of 57 patients who underwent heart transplantation in a university hospital in Izmir, Turkey. “Sociodemographic and Descriptive Characteristics Form”, “Data on Immunosuppressive Drug Therapy Form”, “Rapid Estimate of Adult Health Literacy in Medicine (REALM) Scale”, and “Immunosuppressive Therapy Adherence Scale (ITAS)” were used to collect the data..</p><h3>Results</h3><p>The median score on the REALM scale was 64.00 (IQR = 3.00, min = 18.00, max = 66.00) and 80.7% of the patients scored adequately. The median score of the immunosuppressive therapy adherence scale was 11.00 (IQR= 1.00, min= 5.00, max= 12.00) and 42.1% of the patients scored full score. There was no statistically significant relationship between the median total scores of the REALM and ITAS scales in heart transplant patients (<em>r</em> = 0.181, <em>P</em> = .178).</p>