Correlation analysis between endocrine therapy adherence and illness perception in breast cancer patients

Objective To explore the correlation between endocrine therapy adherence and illness perception (IP) in breast cancer patients. Methods From January to June 2017, a total of 100 breast cancer patients treated in Oncology Department at a Class Ⅲ Grade A hospital in Daqing City of Heilongjiang Province were selected as subjects by convenience sampling. The endocrine therapy adherence and IP of patients were investigated with the breast cancer endocrine therapy adherence questionnaire and Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ) . Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the correlation between them. Results A total of 98 valid questionnaires were collected totally. Except for entry 3, 6 and 7, the scores on entries and total score of IP of patients were positively correlated with the endocrine therapy adherence (P<0.05) . Except for entry 7, score of each entry and total score all entered the regression equation of adherence. Conclusions The IP of breast cancer patients has a correlation with the endocrine therapy adherence. We should raise the level of positive IP of patients by positive direction and intervention so as to improve endocrine therapy adherence of patients. Key words: Breast neoplasms; Medication adherence; Illness perception