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Behandling med statiner från kranskärlspatientens synvinkel, en kvalitativ intervjustudie
Attitude to healthInternal-external controlMedication adherenceCardiovascular diseasesAntilipemic agents
Background: Coronary heart disease kills more than 7 million people worldwide each year. High levels of blood fat, cholesterol, contributes significantly to coronary heart disease. Lifestyle changes combined with lipid-lowering drugs, statins, is an effective treatment. But adherence to statins is low, not even a myocardial infarction always contributes to adherence. Adherence requires patient education and good communication between patient and physician. There is no deeper knowledge of why coronary heart patients stops with statin treatment. Objective: To describe how coronary heart patients experience the disease and the statin treatment, and furthermore, opportunities and difficulties to adhere with statin therapy. Design: An exploratory qualitative study. Method: 10 male coronary heart patients, 55-78 years were strategically selected from a cardiology clinic in a larger Swedish hospital. Patients were interviewed individually in a semi-structured form, 2009/2010. Data processing was done according to content analysis and yielded four themes: empowerment, effects, decision basis, and trust. Results: The patients did not mentioned heredity among the factors they could not affect in association with the disease. Several patients saw the medication as a limitation, doubted its efficacy, but mostly took it anyway, at least for a limited time. Medication and illness were associated with each other. Information requirements were in most patients. Many patients wanted to discontinue the statin therapy. Conclusion: Retention of power over the own body, good reference base for decision about adherence, and trust in health care. These are crucial components of patients? adherence to statin therapy, in connection with coronary heart disease.