Daily regimen and compliance with treatment

Patient compliance—that is, adherence to the regimen of care recommended by the doctor and persistence with it over time—has been a common concern in medical practice for a long time. A search on Medline found nearly 60 000 citations since 1980 related to compliance. Though much is known about the problem and how to overcome it, little seems to have been done in everyday medical practice by healthcare systems and practitioners. At most, 50% of people with chronic disease comply with their doctor's recommendations, irrespective of disease, treatment, or age.1 Adherence and persistence are poor even among patients with diseases with a high and moderate risk of death.2-4 Many factors related to patients, doctors, and the medical system affect compliance with treatment.2-7 Similar problems exist in all countries. 5 6 Doctors and patients are equally responsible for this abysmal state of affairs.5 The disease …

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[2]  S. Benson,et al.  Time to patient discontinuation of antihypertensive drugs in different classes. , 2000, American journal of health-system pharmacy : AJHP : official journal of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

[3]  F. Guillemin,et al.  Compliance with drug therapy in rheumatoid arthritis. A longitudinal European study. , 2000, Joint, bone, spine : revue du rhumatisme.

[4]  B. Bloom.  Continuation of initial antihypertensive medication after 1 year of therapy. , 1998, Clinical therapeutics.

[5]  G. Tognoni,et al.  Control of hypertension in Italy: results of the "Study on Antihypertensive Treatment in General Practice (STAP)". Physicians Taking Part in STAP. , 1998, Giornale italiano di cardiologia.

[6]  C. Lenfant,et al.  National High Blood Pressure Education Program. , 1986, Journal of the American Optometric Association.

[7]  L. Klein.  Compliance and Blood Pressure Control , 1988, Hypertension.

[8]  B. Bloom.  Direct medical costs of disease and gastrointestinal side effects during treatment for arthritis. , 1988, The American journal of medicine.

[9]  J. Caro,et al.  Persistence with treatment for hypertension in actual practice. , 1999, CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne.

[10]  S. Sereika,et al.  Adherence in Chronic Disease , 2000, Annual Review of Nursing Research.

[11]  W. Hauck,et al.  Antiretroviral Use and Pharmacy-Based Measurement of Adherence in Postpartum HIV-Infected Women , 2000, Medical care.

[12]  H. Kyngäs,et al.  Compliance of patients with hypertension and associated factors. , 1999, Journal of advanced nursing.

[13]  J. Bargman,et al.  A multicenter study of noncompliance with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis exchanges in US and Canadian patients. , 2000, American journal of kidney diseases : the official journal of the National Kidney Foundation.