title: Illness Representations, Treatment Beliefs, Medication Adherence, and 30-Day Hospital Readmission in Adults With Chronic Heart Failure: A Prospective Correlational Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  An estimated 5.1 million Americans have chronic heart failure, yet despite advances in its treatment, there has been no improvement in hospital readmissions among aging adult patients with chronic heart failure.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among illness representations, treatment beliefs, medication adherence, and 30-day hospital readmission for heart failure exacerbation in aging adults with chronic heart failure.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a prospective, correlational design, 96 older adults with a primary or secondary diagnosis of heart failure discharged to home from a hospital in the Southeastern United States participated in telephone surveys and follow-up telephone calls. Data analysis included correlation and logistic regression analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants were highly adherent to their medications. Individuals who did not believe their treatment was effective in controlling their HF were readmitted within 30 days of hospital discharge for HF exacerbation; that is, treatment control was inversely related to 30-day hospital readmission. In post hoc analyses, personal control was inversely related to dichotomized medication adherence and necessity-concern differential was directly related to dichotomized medication adherence. The necessity-concern differential, or the belief that medication necessity outweighed the concerns they had about their medicines, was a significant predictor of medication adherence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nurses can use these study findings to help identify individuals who may be at risk of being nonadherent to their medications and hospital readmission. Recommendations for future research include replication with multiple sites, the addition of objective measures of medication adherence, investigation of both the cognitive and emotional pathways, and qualitative exploration of personal control in the context of medication adherence in HF.
authors.affiliation: Stephanie Turrise, PhD, RN, BC, APRN, CNE Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, University of North Carolina Wilmington.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Turrise
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D055118:Medication Adherence; D008875:Middle Aged; D010359:Patient Readmission; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012649:Self Concept; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors