Send Orders for Reprints to reprints@benthamscience.net 104 Cardiovascular & Hematological Agents in Medicinal Chemistry, 2019, 17, 104-114 RESEARCH ARTICLE 1871-5257/19 $58.00+.00 © 2019 Bentham Science Publishers Medication Adherence and Associated Factors among Chronic Heart Failure Clients on Follow Up Oromia Region, West Ethiopia Getahun Fetensa 1,* , Birhanu Yadecha 1 , Tadesse Tolossa 1 and Tariku Tesfaye Bekuma 1 1 School of Nursing and Midwifery, health science Wollega University, Nekemte, Ethiopia Abstract: Background: Chronic heart failure is a complex clinical syndrome with typical symptoms that can occur at rest or on effort. It requires patients to manage their lifestyle with their disease and when to notify their healthcare provider. The study was aimed to identify medication adherence and associated factors among chronic heart failure clients on follow up Oromia region, West Ethiopia, 2017. Methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study design was employed, after selecting three hospi- tals by lottery method and allocating respondents to the three hospitals proportionally. A total of 424 patients were admitted to the medical ward and/or chronic follow up of Nekemte referral, Gimbi, and Shambu hospitals. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire. The data was entered into Epi-data version 3.1, cleared, explored, and then exported to SPSS windows version 24.0 for further analysis. Variable having a p-value less than 0.05 in the bivariate analysis was a candidate for multi- variable analysis and the effect of confounding variables was observed. Variables having a p-value less than 0.05 in the multivariable analysis were assumed significant. Results: A total of 424 respondents were included in the final analysis giving a 95.3% response rate. The result indicated that more than half of the study participants have adhered to prescribed medica- tion. Respondents with good medication adherence were more likely to adhere to good self-care be- havior [AOR (95% CI of OR) = 3.5(2.044, 5.96)]. Respondents whose limited fluid intake was one or half-liter per day were more likely to adhere to the medication [AOR (95% CI of OR) = 2.5(1.43, 4.49)]. It was also found that those patients who avoided spices, sauces and others in food are more likely to adhere to the medication [AOR (95% CI of OR) = 2.2 (1.152, 4.039)]. Conclusion and Recommendation: Even if more than half of the study respondents have good medi- cation and self-care adherence, still it needs great attention in health education over their visit. Health institutions are strongly recommended to give health education for clients and researchers to use ad- vanced study design for measuring medication adherence and self-care behaviors. A R T I C L E H I S T O R Y Received: June 03, 2019 Revised: September 24, 2019 Accepted: September 27, 2019 DOI: 10.2174/1871525717666191019162254 Keywords: Chronic heart failure, medication adherence, self-care behavior, Ethopia, medication adherence, hypertension. 1. INTRODUCTION Heart failure is a clinical syndrome characterized by typ- ical symptoms (e.g., breathlessness, ankle swelling, and fa- tigue) that may be accompanied by signs (e.g., elevated jugu- lar venous pressure, pulmonary crackles and peripheral oe- dema). It is caused by a structural and/or functional cardiac abnormality, resulting in reduced cardiac output and/ or ele- vated intracardiac pressures at rest or during stress [1]. Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) is a complex clinical syn- drome with typical symptoms that can occur at rest or on *Address correspondence to this author at the School of Nursing and Mid- wifery, health science Wollega University, Ethiopia; Tel: +251910344425; E-mail: fetensagetahun@gmail.com effort and is characterized by objective evidence of an under- lying structural abnormality or cardiac dysfunction. A diag- nosis of CHF may be further strengthened by improvement in symptoms in response to treatment [2]. Medication adherence is the extent to which a patient takes medication as prescribed by his or her healthcare pro- vider. Non-adherence is frequently a hidden problem, undis- closed by patients and unrecognized by prescribers [3]. The World Health Organization defines adherence to long-term therapy as “the extent to which a person’s behavior taking medication, following a diet, and/or executing lifestyle changes corresponds with agreed recommendations from a healthcare provider [4]. Medication adherence can be deter- mined by using different methods such as medication use in