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Background Transplant recipients are chronically ill patients, who require lifelong follow-up to manage co-morbidities and prevent graft loss. This necessitates a system of care that is congruent with the Chronic Care Model. The eleven-item self-report Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (PACIC) scale assesses whether chronic care is congruent with the Chronic Care Model, yet its validity for heart transplant patients has not been tested. Methods We tested the validity of the English version of the PACIC, and compared the similarity of the internal structure of the PACIC across English-speaking countries (USA, Canada, Australia and United Kingdom) and across six languages (French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese). This was done using data from the cross-sectional international BRIGHT study that included 1378 heart transplant patients from eleven countries across 4 continents. To test the validity of the instrument, confirmatory factor analyses to check the expected unidimensional internal structure, and relations to other variables, were performed. Results Main analyses confirmed the validity of the English PACIC version for heart transplant patients. Exploratory analyses across English-speaking countries and languages also confirmed the single factorial dimension, except in Italian and Spanish. Conclusion This scale could help healthcare providers monitor level of chronic illness management and improve transplantation care. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT01608477, first patient enrolled in March 2012, registered retrospectively: May 30, 2012. more...

Factors at the level of family/healthcare worker-, organization- and system are neglected in medication nonadherence research in heart transplantation (HTx). The four-continent, eleven-country cross-sectional BRIGHT study used multi-staged sampling to examine 36 HTx centers, including 36 HTx directors, 100 clinicians, and 1397 patients. Nonadherence to immunosuppressants-defined as any deviation in taking or timing adherence and/or dose reduction-was assessed using the BAASIS® interview. Guided by the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction and Bronfenbrenner's ecological model, we analyzed factors at these multiple levels using sequential logistic regression analysis (6 blocks). The nonadherence prevalence was 34.1%. Six multi-level factors were associated independently (either positively or negatively) with nonadherence: patient level: barriers to taking immunosuppressants (OR: 11.48); smoking (OR:2.19); family/healthcare provider level: frequency of having someone to help patients read health-related materials (OR:0.85); organization level: clinicians reporting non-adherent patients were targeted with adherence interventions (OR: 0.66); pick-up of medications at physician's office (OR: 2.31); and policy level: monthly out-of-pocket costs for medication (OR: 1.16). Factors associated with nonadherence are evident at multiple levels. Improving medication nonadherence requires addressing not only the patient, but also family/healthcare provider, organization, and policy levels. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. ispartof: American Journal of Transplantation vol:18 issue:6 pages:1447-1460 ispartof: location:United States status: published more...

INTRODUCTION: Heart transplant (HTx) recipients need to follow a complex therapeutic regimen. We assessed the international prevalence and variability in nonadherence to six nonpharmacologic treatment components (physical activity, sun protection, diet, alcohol use, nonsmoking, and outpatient follow-up visits). METHODS: We used self-report data of 1397 adult HTx recipients from the 36-HTx-center, 11-country, 4-continent, cross-sectional BRIGHT study (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT01608477). The nonadherence definitions used were as follows: Physical activity: 1 alcoholic drink/d (women) or >2 drinks/d (men); Smoking: current smokers or stopped more...