Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Lingual Validation of the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ)-Specific for Cholesterol Lowering Drugs in the Visegrad Countries

The influence of age, gender and pharmacogenetic profiles on the perspective on medicines in the German EMPAR study

BACKGROUND

Pharmacogenetic testing in routine care could provide benefits for patients, doctors and statutory health insurances. Therefore, the aim of the retrospective, observational study Einfluss metabolischer Profile auf die Arzneimitteltherapiesicherheit in der Routineversorgung (EMPAR) was to analyze the relationship between pharmacogenetic profiles, the risk of adverse drug reactions, and patients' perceptions of drug therapy in 10748 adult (≥18 years) participants in Germany.

METHODS

A questionnaire was used to assess views and beliefs about medicines and participants individual perception of sensitivity to drug therapies. The questionnaire consisted of the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ)-General scales (Overuse, Harm, Benefit), the Perceived Sensitivity to Medicines (PSM), Natural Remedy, and Gene Testing scales. The influence of gender, age, study collective, genotype and phenotype of relevant pharmacogenes on participant's perception were evaluated.

RESULTS

Overuse, PSM and Benefit scores were significantly higher among patients of the collective International Classification of Diseases and Health Related Disorders (ICD)-10 Y57.9! diagnosis, which indicates complications related to drugs, compared to the anticoagulant/antiplatelet and cholesterol-lowering drug collective. Age and gender also played a significant role in patients' perceptions, with younger patients and female participants more likely to believe in medication overuse according to the Overuse scale score compared to older and male participants. Female participants compared to male participants and the old age group compared to the young and/or middle-age subgroup, scored higher in PSM and/or Harm scales, respectively. Only a tendency of increased Harm, Overuse and PSM scores was observed in the participant group with five or more relevant actionable variants compared to subgroups with 0 up to 4 variants.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, patients' beliefs about medicines and their drug sensitivity perceptions are influenced by various factors including age, gender, previous complications with medicines, and with some tendency also pharmacogenetic profiles. The higher association with more negative views related to treatment indicates that there is a need to target the underlying issues in affected patient groups in order to improve compliance to treatment and outcomes in routine care. Trial registration: EMPAR was registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS) on 06 July 2018 (DRKS00013909).

Identifying patient perceptions and attitudes regarding statin-associated diabetes mellitus: a mixed-methods study

Aim: The aims of this study were to explore factors that influence initiation and continuation of statin therapy. Patients & methods: Mixed-method design employed with 73 patients completing surveys and 14 patients participating in semi-structured interviews. Results: When lower total cholesterol is achieved, patients' views are favorable while views of statin therapy diminish among those with higher total cholesterol values. All patients are concerned with adverse events including the potential for developing diabetes. However, overall patients believe the benefits of statins outweigh the risk of diabetes. Conclusion: Barriers remain that prevent patients from achieving cholesterol goals and maintaining or initiating statin therapy. Effective strategies to provide accurate information about the risks and benefits of statin therapy, and implementation of shared decision-making to improve medication adherence and persistence are needed.

Differences in Beliefs About Cholesterol-Lowering Medications Among the Visegrad Group Countries: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: New cholesterol guidelines highlight more personalized risk assessments and new cholesterol-lowering drugs for people at the highest risk for cardiovascular disease. Adherence due to fear of and lack of trust in medications prevents treatment to provide better health outcomes.

Objectives: The aim of our study was to investigate the possible differences in the beliefs about the necessity and concerns regarding lipid-lowering drugs among the Visegrad Group countries.

Methods: The Beliefs About Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ-Specific) was used in our research. The responses of 205 Hungarian, 200 Slovak, 235 Czech, and 200 Polish participants, all taking cholesterol-lowering medications, were compared to each other.

Results: Hungarian participants' belief in the necessity of cholesterol-lowering drugs was significantly lower compared to the Slovak (P = 0.001), Czech (P = 0.037), and Polish (P < 0.001) participants. While no difference was observed between the Czech and Slovak responses (P = 0.154), both the Czech (P < 0.001) and Slovak (P = 0.006) respondents' belief regarding necessity was lower than that of the Polish. Regarding concerns, the only significant difference was observed between the Czech and the Polish respondents (P = 0.011).

Conclusions: While the beliefs about benefits (necessity) are most prominent among the Polish participants, except in comparison to Czech responses, the Visegrad Group countries do not differ considerably regarding their beliefs about the fear (concerns) of the treatment.