Learning from successes: designing medication adherence intervention research so that we can learn what works and why

"Drugs don’t work in patients who don’t take them"—C.E. Koop, US Surgeon General1 Even if clinicians prescribe the most appropriate medications for their patients, the effectiveness of these depends on how patients take them.1 Adherence presumes an agreement between prescriber and patient about the prescriber’s recommendations2 and is defined as the extent to which the patient’s action matches the agreed recommendations.2 Low adherence is associated with adverse outcomes, hospitalisation and increased mortality.3 It is therefore a source of avoidable patient harm, as well as increased healthcare costs and reduced cost-effectiveness of medicines.4–7 However, approximately 30%–50% of patients with long-term conditions are estimated to be non-adherent to their medication.4 A systematic review has found that while many studies have evaluated the effects of interventions to increase adherence, most appear to...
Source: Quality and Safety in Health Care - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Open access Editorials Source Type: research