Concordance of patients' beliefs about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, their comorbidities, and their medications.
Grace E McInerney, Kimberly Muellers, Rachel O'Conor and 4 others
PMID 31761528WHAT IT FOUND
Patients with COPD plus hypertension or diabetes held similar illness and medication beliefs across conditions, especially concerns and emotional responses.
Ask about medicines for COPD, hypertension, and diabetes together to identify shared beliefs.
Key findings
01Illness and medication beliefs were positively associated between COPD and hypertension, including after adjustment for demographics and health literacy.
02Illness and medication beliefs were also positively associated between COPD and diabetes, including in adjusted analyses.
03For COPD and hypertension, all illness-perception domains were positively associated; for COPD and diabetes, all domains except timeline and treatment control were positively associated.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a baseline analysis of a cohort, not a randomized trial, so it cannot show that changing beliefs changes behavior or outcomes. The study only included patients with COPD plus hypertension or diabetes, so it may not apply to other comorbidities. Participants were recruited from primary care practices affiliated with two institutions, limiting generalizability. Medication beliefs were measured for only one medication per condition, not for all of a patient's medicines. Health literacy was measured with a single question about needing help reading healthcare materials.
Declared interests
The supplied metadata lists NIH extramural research support. The article's conflict statement says Dr. Wisnivesky received consulting honoraria from Sanofi and Banook and research grants from Sanofi and Quorum, and no other conflicts exist.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that a single education session about all chronic medicines will improve adherence or outcomes. The study found questionnaire associations only; it did not test an intervention or measure disease control.