Level of Adherence to Cytotoxic Drugs by Breast Cancer Patients’ in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital

Background: Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant diseases in women and adjuvant combination chemotherapy has been shown to reduce mortality from this disease. Adherence to medical treatment is a multifaceted issue that can substantially alter the outcomes of therapy. Patient non-adherence to chemotherapy is the ultimate barrier to the treatment effectiveness. Objective: This study was carried out to determine the relationship between cancer chemotherapy adherence and breast cancer staging, patient’s perception of cancer care and patient’s socio-demographic characteristics. Material and method: This was a cross sectional study selection of respondents and was based on simple random sampling technique, 184 patients were interviewed and data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire to obtain socio-demographic data, adherence data, and facility-related information. Results: There was a significant association between marital status and non-adherence (P = 0.013). Both separated and single subjects had higher proportion of non-adherence compared with married subjects. Analysis of perception of chemotherapy care revealed a significant association between the satisfaction score and non-adherence, with non-adherent patients showing higher scores or being less satisfied. The quality of service (P = 0.0052); rating of needs been met (P = 0.0079); rating on whether the services helped the subject (P = 0.0405); rating on the general satisfaction of the services provided (P = 0.0115); and rating on whether subject would seek help again (P = 0.0320) all had a significant association with non-adherence. Conclusion: The awareness of oncologist and patient of the problem of non-adherence and communication regarding the importance of adherence to therapy may improve health outcomes.