Background and Aims Immunosuppressant non-adherence is a leading cause of preventable renal allograft dysfunction, rejection and graft loss. The barriers to immunosuppressant adherence as well as associated risk factors of non-adherence vary across studies in different locations. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of immunosuppressant non-adherence among adult kidney transplant recipients and identify barriers to adherence in a renal transplant cohort. Method A cross sectional survey was conducted using the Basel Assessment of Adherence to Immunosuppressive Medications Scale (BAASIS), the Immunosuppressant Therapy Barrier Scale and the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire. Adherence was defined according to the BAASIS, with barriers to adherence and beliefs about medicines compared between the two groups. Participants were recruited from the out-patient clinic at Zenith Medical and Kidney centre. An advert for the study was placed in consultation rooms and patients were approached to join the study when they attend appointments. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 23 (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp) was used for data analysis. Results The rate of non-adherence was 50.7% out of 67 kidney transplant recipients attending outpatient clinic. There were statistically significant associations between non-adherence and occupation (P = 0.049). Participants who are on MMF were more adherent than those on sirolimus (97.0% vs 79.4% and 0.0% vs 8.8%) and this difference is statistically significant (P = .038). Also, participants who have had one or more post-transplant hospital admission are more non-adherent when compared with those that have never been admitted (P = .022) The only significant barrier to adherence was when patients travelled out of town (P < 0.005). Adherence was not associated with patients’ belief about their medicines. Conclusion Interventions aimed at ensuring constant access to immunosuppressant drugs and those based on habit forming may significantly improve adherence in this cohort.

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