Associated factors with adherence to antiepileptic drug in the capital city of Lao PDR

SummaryAvailable medical care for epilepsy and antiepileptic drugs (AED) are provided in Vientiane Municipality by district hospitals supported by a non-governmental organization, which is referred to as a community-based intervention (CB), and reference hospital which is referred to as hospital-based interventions (HB). Identifying underlying factors of AED adherence is of public health interest.A community-based cross-sectional survey among randomly selected patients with epilepsy (PWE) who were being cared in Vientiane Municipality was undertaken in 2010. The Morisky scale was used to assess the level of adherence. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to address predictive factors.Overall, 99 PWE were included in the study. Overall adherence was estimated at 57.6%, 57.1% and 58.0% for the HB and CB group, respectively. High level of adherence was related to illiteracy, being on monotherapy and experiencing fewer seizures.Implementing closer medical care at primary level to PWE improves the likelihood of reducing primary and secondary treatment gap which is related to PWEs’ adherence. An active intervention through a downstream channel of training of medical health staff from reference level to community level enhances the prescription of adequate AED, the improvement of the quality of relation between PWE and medical staff.