Treatment Adherance

Question 1

Define non-adherence.

Answer 1

When a patient’s behaviour does not correspond with agreed recommendations from a healthcare provider

Question 2

What is the prevalence of non-adherence?

Answer 2

Overall average rate of adherence is about 50%

Question 3

State some consequences of non-adherence.

Answer 3

Increased hospital admissions (1 in 5 are because of non-adherence) 
Rejection of transplants 
Occurrence of complications 
Development of drug resistance 
Increased mortality

Question 4

What are the three main reasons for non-adherence?

Answer 4

Regime related factors (including physical aspects e.g. packaging, complexity, side effects, duration, cost etc.)
Poor doctor-patient interaction
Psychosocial variables

Question 5

State some patient factors affecting recall of healthcare information.

Answer 5

Anxiety
Medical knowledge
Memory impairment

Question 6

State some presentation factors affecting recall of healthcare information.

Answer 6

Amount of information 
Order 
Stressing importance 
Specificity 
Mode of presentation 
Follow-up

Question 7

List some ways of improving adherence to treatment.

Answer 7

Ask the patient
Simplify the regime and packaging
Improve the doctor-patient interaction (communication style and presentation)
Identify and modify beliefs
Involve significant others, wider network and potential to use assistive technology
Only try to change one or two behaviours at once