Cor Vasa 2025, 67(5):577-585 | DOI: 10.33678/cor.2025.035

Adherence to treatment in the elderly with chronic heart failure

Lucie Karlickáa, b, Darja Jarošováb
a Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology, University Hospital Ostrava, Ostrava, the Czech Republic
b Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine, the University of Ostrava, Ostrava, the Czech Republic

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate and evaluate adherence to treatment in the elderly with chronic heart failure and the significance of factors explaining it.

Methods: This is cross-sectional correlational and descriptive quantitative study. The research sample consisted of 127 elderly people with chronic heart failure who met the specified criteria. To assess adherence to treatment in the elderly with chronic heart failure, the Czech version of the modified standardized questionnaire ACDI - Adherence of Patients with Chronic Disease Instrument was used. Data collection took place between 2023 and 2024 at the Cardiovascular Department of a selected healthcare facility with the consent of its deputy for nursing care.

Results: Most of the elderly indicated good adherence to both medication (99.2%) and a healthy lifestyle (87.4%). Among the factors affecting adherence to treatment, responsibility reached the highest prevalence, namely 97.6%. The strongest factor related to medication adherence was responsibility, while the factor most strongly linked to adherence to a healthy lifestyle was motivation. One of the significant predictive factors for treatment adherence is education about regimen measures.

Conclusion: Adherence to treatment could be strengthened by increasing patient motivation to follow therapeutic measures aimed at changing risk behaviours that negatively affect disease progression. Emphasizing patient education may also lead to improved adherence to treatment in the elderly with chronic heart failure.

Keywords: ACDI questionnaire, Adherence to treatment, Factors affecting adherence, Chronic heart failure, The elderly

Received: January 12, 2025; Revised: February 23, 2025; Accepted: February 2, 2025; Prepublished online: June 2, 2012; Published: November 6, 2025  Show citation

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Karlická L, Jarošová D. Adherence to treatment in the elderly with chronic heart failure. Cor Vasa. 2025;67(5):577-585. doi: 10.33678/cor.2025.035.
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