Assessing Frailty, Rational Use of Medications, and Adherence to Immunosuppressive Therapy in Liver Transplant Recipients

Abstract

Aim

The study was conducted to determine the level of frailty, rational medication use, and adherence to immunosuppressive therapy in liver transplant patients and to examine the relationships among them.

Materials and Methods

The data of the descriptive cross-sectional study were collected between January 2023 and September 2023. Our study included 200 liver transplant recipients. In addition to demographic and medical characteristics, frailty status, rational drug use, and compliance with immunosuppressive therapy were measured in a 15–20 minute questionnaire administration period.

Results

The frailty scores of liver transplant patients were 2.11 ± 1.34, rational drug use scores were 82.88 ± 13.11, and compliance with immunosuppressive therapy scores were 11.12 ± 1.07. The scores for rational drug use and adherence to immunosuppressive therapy were not affected by frailty status, and patients used drugs rationally and adhered to immunosuppressive therapy even when they were frail. It was found that the vulnerability status of the participants was affected by gender and occupational variables, most patients were in the vulnerable group in women and men, and those who did not work were more vulnerable than the other groups.

Conclusion

It was found that liver transplant patients were frail, and frailty did not affect the level of rational drug use and compliance with immunosuppressive therapy.