The importance of physician–patient relationship for improvement of adherence to long-term therapy: data of survey in a cohort of multiple sclerosis patients with mild and moderate disability

Patient involvement in the improvement of health care is important for the best long-term treatment outcomes. Our objective is to assess patient satisfaction with offered care service and to identify parameters which influence the adherence to long-term therapy. A prospective single-center study based on the administration of a structured interview to multiple sclerosis (MS) patients attending our MS Centre with mild and moderate disabilities. The interview regarding clinical parameters, quality of life and satisfaction of care service was structured in three parts with multiple-choice answers to close- or open-ended questions. Patient satisfaction was evaluated by the concordance between the level of patient attention and judgment regarding the services offered. The impact of all variables on the adherence to therapy and on the perceived utility of treatment was evaluated. The concordance between patient attention and judgment on health care services resulted statistically significant for almost all parameters. The perceived utility of treatment was significantly correlated to patients feeling confident in the clinical staff, to their perception of being involved in therapeutic decision (p < 0.05), and associated to therapy adherence (p = 0.0001). In a multivariate model, the adherence to therapy resulted associated to possibility of choosing the physician (p = 0.037) and inversely to therapy duration (p = 0.001). Our conclusion reveals that, to improve the adherence to long-term therapy and the perceived utility of treatment, a particular attention should be devoted to physician–patient relationship.