Adherence to medication: A nation-wide study from the Children’s Cancer Hospital, Egypt

Table 1 Basic characteristics of 281 parents and their child diagnosed with cancer at the Children’s Cancer Hospital in Cairo, Egypt n (%)

Characteristics
Primary caregiver of the child
Mother	17 (6)
Father	30 (11)
Both parents	234 (83)
Participants accompanying/staying with the child at the hospital
Mother	228 (81)
Father	47 (17)
Both parents	2 (1)
Other	4 (1)
Child’s gender
Male	165 (59)
Female	116 (41)
Child’s age (yr)
0-4	119 (42)
5-8	59 (21)
9-15	89 (32)
16-18	14 (5)
Mother’s level of education
No education	98 (35)
Primary/preparatory	54 (19)
Secondary	49 (17)
Institute-diploma	48 (17)
University	32 (11)
Father’s level of education
No education	91 (32)
Primary/preparatory	39 (14)
Secondary	65 (23)
Institute-diploma	53 (19)
University	29 (10)
Not stated	4 (1)
Mother’s occupation
Housewife	254 (90)
Labourer	9 (3)
Employee	17 (6)
Own business	1 (< 1)
Father’s occupation
Unemployed	15 (5)
Labourer	186 (66)
Employee	60 (21)
Own business	14 (5)
Not stated	6 (2)
Residential region
Urban	89 (32)
Rural	185 (66)
Abroad	7 (2)
Diagnosis
Leukaemia	128
Pre-B ALL	77
Pre-T ALL	25
Acute myeloid leukemia	24
JMML	2
Lymphomas	52
Non-Hodgkin	39
Hodgkin	13
Brain tumor	16
Medulloblastom	8
PNET	3
Other	5
Neuroblastoma	29
Sarcomas	30
Ewing sarcoma	16
Osteosarcoma	6
Rhabdomyosarcomas	8
Wilms’ tumor	4
Hepatoblastoma	6
Germ cell tumor	6
Other	10

PNET: Primitive neuroectodermal tumor; JMML: Juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia; AML: Acute myeloid leukaemia; ALL: Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Table 2 Parents’ report of the intention to attend the next chemotherapy treatment schedule n (%)

Characteristics	Non-adherent (n = 123)	Adherent(n = 58)	P-value1
Optimistic regarding the results so far	5 (4)	8 (14)	0.028
Hope treatment will prove to be effective	46 (38)	31 (53)	0.054
Believe the treatment is effective	2 (2)	2 (4)	0.593
Pursue for child’s life, although treatment is of no use	86 (70)	28 (48)	0.005
Scared that child will die if discontinued treatment	99 (81)	27 (47)	< 0.0001
Pursue according to religious beliefs, though treatment is of no use	69 (57)	30 (53)	0.632
Other	3 (2)	3 (5)	0.387

¹Using Fisher’s exact test to produce P-values.

Table 3 Psycho-emotional predictors for the outcome adherent/non-adherent n (%)

Predictors	Adherent	Non-adherent
How do you perceive your current situation?
Moderately manageable/manageable	7 (87)	1 (13)
RR (95%CI)		1.0 (Reference)
Unmanageable/little manageable	51 (30)	122 (70)
RR (95%CI)		5.64 (0.89-35)
Some parents have reported experience of loneliness at the hospital; does this correspond with your experience?
None/a little/moderate	14 (61)	9 (39)
RR (95%CI)		1.0 (Reference)
Much	44 (28)	114 (72)
RR (95%CI)		1.84 (1.1-3.1)
Do you feel you are in need of sharing your emotional burdens and strains with someone?
None/a little/moderate	18 (46)	21 (54)
RR (95%CI)		1.0 (Reference)
Much	40 (28)	102 (72)
RR (95%CI)		1.33 (0.98-1.8)
Do you have someone to share your emotional burdens and strains with?
None	9 (50)	9 (50)
RR (95%CI)		1.0 (Reference)
A little/moderate/much	49 (30)	114 (70)
RR (95%CI)		1.4 (0.87-2.24)
Have you perceived the health-care staff to be sensitive to your emotional needs?
Moderate/much	8 (62)	5 (38)
RR (95%CI)		1.0 (Reference)
None/a little	50 (30)	118 (70)
RR (95%CI)		1.83 (0.9-3.6)
Have you perceived the health-care staff to be sensitive to your intellectual needs?
Moderate/much	6 (60)	4 (40)
RR (95%CI)		1.0 (Reference)
None/a little	52 (30)	119 (70)
RR (95%CI)		1.7 (0.80-3.7)
Do you consider that the health-care staff has been kind to you?
Moderate/much	10 (67)	5 (33)
RR (95%CI)		1.0 (Reference)
None/a little	48 (29)	118 (71)
RR (95%CI)		2.13 (1.03-4.4)
Do you consider that the health-care staff has met you with care?
Moderate/much	9 (64)	9 (36)
RR (95%CI)		1.0 (Reference)
None/a little	49 (29)	118 (71)
RR (95%CI)		1.97 (0.97-4.0)
Do you consider that the health-care staff is thoughtful with you?
Moderate/much	5 (71)	2 (29)
RR (95%CI)		1.0 (Reference)
None/a little	53 (30)	121 (70)
RR (95%CI)		2.43 (0.75-7.88)