title: 'It's like taking poison to kill poison but I have to get better': a qualitative study of beliefs about medicines in Rheumatoid arthritis and Systemic lupus erythematosus patients of South Asian origin.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate factors that influence beliefs about medicines in patients of South Asian origin with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative methodology was used to explore the health beliefs of South Asian patients and in particular the factors that influenced their beliefs about medicines and disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Thirty two patients with RA and SLE took part in focus group discussions. Patients who chose to participate in focus groups conducted in English were compared with those who chose to participate groups conducted in Punjabi or Urdu.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three main themes emerged to explain patients beliefs about medicines: (1) Beliefs about the necessity of DMARDs; (2) Concerns about DMARDs and other prescribed medicines including: (a) long-term side-effects; (b) the apparent lack of efficacy of some therapies; (c) concerns about changing from one drug to another and the large numbers of different medicines being taken; (3) Contextual factors which informed the patient's view on the necessity for particular medicines and concerns about them including: (a) beliefs about the causes of disease and the influence of religious beliefs on this; (b) barriers to communication with health care professionals about the medications being prescribed in clinic. In addition, our data revealed that these beliefs about DMARDs had important consequences for patient behaviour, including the use of traditional dietary and other non-pharmacological approaches. There were differences in views expressed between those who chose to speak in English and those who did not.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study has identified themes that explain previous findings of negative beliefs about medicines in patients of South Asian origin. Beliefs about the causes of disease had an important impact on the way some patients viewed medicines for RA and SLE. This will have implications for educational programmes designed to promote patient involvement in disease management.
authors.affiliation: School of Immunity and Infection, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. k.kumar@bham.ac.uk
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barry
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Horne
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Raza
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D044466:Asian People; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012067:Religion; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents