Medication adherence: A review and lessons for developing countries

Abstract

Most of the time, complete adherence to prescribed medication is a big step towards recovery from either chronic or acute diseases, but patients often are unaware of the adverse effects that could arise from inconsistency in adherence. The inability of patients to adhere to prescription can affect the potency of some effective therapies known to treat many conditions, and passive compliance may result in the development of resistant to the drug causing a need for treatment modification. Shockingly, more than half of the drugs prescribed for patients with chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension were found not to be taken as recommended. Adherence is so important because it can assist clinicians in successful supervision of evidence-based treatment of patients; therefore this paper presents an overview of medication adherence, non-technology and technology-based approaches, and lessons for developing countries.