Abstract
The aim of this study was to identify demographic and disease characteristics associated with different medication beliefs of patients with chronic non-malignant pain and to investigate beliefs about medicines and their association with medicine adherence. Data were collected from 202 patients using the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ) and the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS). According to four different attitudinal constructs, the results indicate that the majority of patients were Indifferent, followed by Distrustful and Mixed-feelings, whereas the lowest proportion of patients were In-favour. The highest patient age was found in the In-favour and Indifferent constructs. Primary education level was the most represented in the In-favour construct. The most patients in the In-favour, Indifferent and Distrustful constructs used a combination of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) and opioids. In the Mixed-feelings construct, patients mostly used a combination of paracetamol and NSAIDs. Most patients in the In-favour and Mixed-feelings construct reported severe pain. In the Indifferent and Distrustful constructs, most patients reported moderate pain. The study results indicate am association between some demographic characteristics and medications beliefs and that constructs could be predictors of adherence. The BMQ can be used to identify patients who are at risk of non-adherence and can be used in multidisciplinary pain programs.