Abstract:
Some previous researches in the West and Europe have indicated how illness perceptions
relate to medication adherence in adolescents with various chronic diseases. There is
however a gap in the literature on how the various illness perception dimensions are
associated with medication adherence in Ghana among adolescents with chronic
diseases like sickle cell. The aim of this study was to investigate how the various illness
perception dimensions are associated with medication adherence in adolescents with
sickle cell disease. A total of 120 adolescents’ sickle cell patients receiving treatments at
Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and Tema General Hospital were conveniently sampled to
be part of the study. They completed self-report questionnaires about their demographic
and medical data, their illness perception using the Illness Perception Questionnaire-
Revised (IPQ-R) and their medication adherence using the Medication Adherence Report
Scale-5 (MARS5). The outcome of the analysis using the Pearson Product Moment
Correlation Coefficient indicated a significant positive relationship between the
following illness perception dimensions (consequences, emotional representation,
treatment control, timeline cyclical, timeline-acute/chronic and illness coherence) and
medication adherence. The multiple regression analysis indicated that timeline cyclical
significantly predicted medication adherence the most compared to the other dimensions.
The findings of this study provided evidence that illness perception of adolescents with
sickle cell disease is significantly related to medication adherence. Health care providers
such as nurses and doctors should consider having a discussion about the perception
adolescents with sickle cell disease have about their condition as this is related to
medication adherence. Also, when treatment is been planned, it should be tailored to
meet the individual needs.
