Poor adherence to proper medication therapy has resulted in difficulties, death, and increased health care expenses. Medication adherence in patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma, heart diseases, depression, etc. is an important obstacle needing intervention.
Medication Nonadherence
World Health Organization’s (WHO) in World Health Report 2003, showed the concern about the level of medication nonadherence is so high and the results are very concerning that many people globally would profit from attempts to increase medication adherence than from the addition of new medical procedures.
Many studies have revealed that, in developed countries, patients with chronic conditions have adherence percentages of 50% to 60%, despite data that medication increases the quality of life and prevents death.
Whereas in developing countries, lack of diagnosis, limited availability of medicines are faced. Poor adherence approaches all purposes to manage chronic conditions such as diabetes, depression, etc.
The percentage of patients who persistently take their medicine for a chronic disease decreased following the first 6 months of therapy. Satisfactory measures of adherence in some cases are 80% or greater, while those for HIV are considerably higher (95%).
33% to 69% of hospitals in the United States are linked to poor medication adherence that results in costs of approximately $100 billion yearly. medication nonadherence in the US has taken approximately 125,000 deaths per year.
When advising about medication adherence for the condition like diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol. It is necessary to instruct the patient about the outcomes of not properly treating these conditions, which can lead to more complicated situations.
Defining Adherence
The main determinant of treatment success is adherence to therapy. Adherence is a collaborative arrangement between the patient and the provider, it is the level to which the patient’s response is in agreement with the health care provider’s instructions.
Compliance is confused as adherence, which means the patient’s willingness to treatment under the power of the provider, rather than to a collaborative approach.
The Factors That Influence Adherence to Medications
Condition-related factors
Condition-related circumstances that were linked with lower medication adherence included polypharmacy, comorbid diseases, and having psychiatric conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other psychoses.
Patient-related factors
There were 6 main parts relating to patients were demographics, physical and mental function, disease and treatment, family history, and menopausal factors. Also, lower education levels were associated with lower medication adherence.
Health system-based factors
Health system-based factors linked with poorer medication adherence involved care under various medical practices and a shortage of patient education.
Therapy-related factors
Therapy-related factors involved higher dosing rates and medication side effects.
Doctors should put these factors in mind to deliver high medication adherence to their patients.
