Impact of age and gender on adherence to infection control guidelines and medical regimens in cystic fibrosis.
BACKGROUND
The goal of the present research was to examine the impact of age and gender on adherence to both infection control (IC) guidelines and traditional medical treatments in a cystic fibrosis (CF) population. Adherence behaviors are consistently suboptimal in chronic illness populations, particularly pulmonary diseases; understanding the factors related to adherence behaviors in CF can aid in the development of interventions to promote adherence.


METHODS
Participants consisted of 74 individuals with CF ages 9 years and above. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires designed to assess demographic data, treatment adherence, and health beliefs.


RESULTS
With respect to IC guidelines, chi-square analyses revealed significant age differences in adherence behaviors such that the young adult subsample was least adherent to IC (χ2  = 15.10, df = 6, P = 0.020). Next, a 4 (age: child, adolescent, young adult, adult) × 2 (gender) completely between subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted on medical treatment adherence. There was a significant main effect for age [F(3, 65) = 2.940, P = 0.040, ηP2  = 0.119] indicating that the adolescent subsample had the most adherence challenges. Gender was nonsignificant across both adherence types.


CONCLUSIONS
Study findings are suggestive of age-related differences in adherence behaviors across both IC and medical regimens and support the use of developmentally sensitive approaches to assessment and interventions addressing adherence.
John Carroll University, University Heights, Ohio. tmasterson@jcu.edu.
Tracy Loye
TL
Masterson
Beth G
BG
Wildman
Benjamin H
BH
Newberry
Gregory J
GJ
Omlor
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000592:standards*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult