Illness perception amongst adults with multimorbidity at primary care clinics in Southwest Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Although shreds of evidence are emerging to show the role of illness perceptions in the health outcomes of patients, most of the previous studies have been on single chronic conditions. AIM: To assess the illness perceptions and the associated factors amongst adults with multimorbidity. SETTING: General outpatient clinics of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted amongst a systematic sample of 403 adults with multimorbidity. Data on illness perception and other variables were collected using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, t-test and analysis of variance were employed for analyses. RESULTS: The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 97 years, with a mean of 60.9 years (standard deviation [s.d.] ± 14.3 years). The majority of participants (57.3%) were women. Ninety-four (23.3%) respondents had only two morbid conditions, whilst 31.2% had at least four morbid conditions. Prioritisation sub-domain of illness perception recorded the highest score (mean = 2.0, s.d. ± 0.8), whilst the treatment burden sub-domain was the lowest (mean = 0.8, s.d. ± 0.7). A significant bivariate relationship was observed between emotional representation (p = 0.001), prioritisation (p = 0.013) and causal relationship (p = 0.013) sub-domains and age group of study participants. Emotional burden associated with illnesses declined as educational level increased (p = 0.039). CONCLUSION: Patient's characteristics such as age, education and the number of morbidities are associated with illness perception. Healthcare providers should pay attention to these factors whilst addressing illness perception as a way to achieve better clinical outcomes.

Mobile phone use for a social strategy to improve antiretroviral refill experience at a low-resource HIV clinic: patient responses from Nigeria.

In sub-Saharan African areas where antiretroviral (ARV) drugs are not available through community pharmacies, clinic-based pharmacies are often the primary source of ARV drug refills. Social pressure is mounting on treatment providers to adjust ARV refill services towards user-friendly approaches which prioritize patients' convenience and engage their resourcefulness. By this demand, patients may be signalling dissatisfaction with the current provider-led model of monthly visits to facility-based pharmacies for ARV refill. Mobile phones are increasingly popular in sub-Saharan Africa, and have been used to support ARV treatment goals in this setting. A patient-centred response to on-going social pressure requires treatment providers to view ARV refill activities through the eyes of patients who are negotiating the challenges of day-to-day life while contemplating their next refill appointment. Using focus groups of five categories of adult patients receiving combination ARV therapy, we conducted this cross-sectional qualitative study to provide insight into modifiable gaps between patients' expectations and experiences of the use of mobile phones in facility-based ARV refill service at a public HIV clinic in Nigeria. A notable finding was patients' preference for harnessing informal social support (through intermediaries with mobile phones) to maintain adherence to ARV refill appointments when they could not present in person. This evolving social support strategy also has the potential to enhance defaulter tracking. Our study findings may inform the development of ARV refill strategies and the design of future qualitative studies on client-provider communication by mobile phones in under-resourced HIV treatment programmes.