Adherence to medication among adult asthma patients in the Middle East and North Africa: results from the ESMAA study

Low levels of adherence to asthma medication is reported in many countries worldwide. Improved knowledge of adherence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is needed to address this major public healthcare burden. Assess the level of adherence in patients attending a routine consultation and the relationship between adherence, patient/disease characteristics, disease control, and quality of life. A large-scale cross-sectional epidemiological study was performed on adults suffering from asthma for at least 1 year and without an acute asthma episode within 4 weeks. Adherence was assessed using the MMAS-4 questionnaire©. Predictive factors of adherence were analyzed with logistic regressions. Overall 7203 eligible patients were included in 577 sites. Mean age was 45.4 years (±14.7), 57.2% were female, mean BMI was 28.5 kg/m2 (±6.0), and 11% were active smokers. Good adherence was observed in 23.6% with a country effect (p