Evaluation of patients' compliance with medical practitioners' prescriptions: university health center experience.

Abstract This research report examines the characteristics of patients and their compliance with drug prescriptions. Specifically, the study examines the compliance rate and its variations among ambulatory patients in the Student Health Center at Brigham Young University. The two-phase study produced a statistically sound basis for discounting the existence of certain relationships and substantiating others relative to patient compliance with prescribed medication. The data were tested using three different and independent testing procedures, including cross tabulations, one-way analysis of variance, and mean compliance rates. The study shows that it is impossible to predict drug compliance relative to some economic and social variables, but other relationships can be used as predictors for patient compliance. The implication of the study is that there is a need for education among patients receiving medication so that they do not prematurely terminate the medication process.