Background/Purpose: As in other chronic diseases, adherence to the treatment regimen of patients with fibromyalgia (FM) is low (between 30 and 80%), depending on the definition of adherence and the methodology used to measure it. This study aims to determine the level of adherence to drug therapy in patients with FM and identify factors associated with non-compliance to therapy.

Methods: an analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted. Patients with FM were included considering the classification criteria (ACR 1990) for both those who were receiving drugs for the treatment for their disease and those who attended the outpatient clinic. For the assessment of adherence, the questionnaires CQR (Compliance Questionnaire on Rheumatology) were used, to assess anxiety GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder), to assess depression PHQ-9 (Patient Helth Questionnaire) and to assess the impact disease of the S-FIQ (Spanish Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire) were used.

Results: 78 patients were surveyed (70 women). The mean age was 47,3 years. 41% (32 patients) were adherent (CQR> 80). 41% (19) of the nonadherent had severe depression according to the PHQ-9 vs 6% (2) of those which if adhered. 67% (31) of the nonadherent had severe anxiety by questionnaire GAD-7 vs the 16% (5) of which adhered. It was also observed that 87% (40) of nonadherent had low quality of life measured by the S-FIQ (S-FIQ >50%) questionnaire vs. a 50% (16) of the adherent members who had good quality of life. The three cases showed a statistically significant association with non-adherence to drug treatment.

Conclusion: it was observed that less than half of FM patients were adherent to drug treatment. Factors associated with nonadherence were depression, anxiety and reduced quality of life.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/adherence-to-drug-therapy-in-patients-with-fibromyalgia/