Patient adherence with COPD therapy

Abstract

Although there are very few published studies on adherence to treatment regimens in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the evidence that exists suggests that, as with asthma therapy, adherence is poor.Patient beliefs about COPD, as well as their motivation and expectations about the likelihood of success of medical interventions, can influence adherence rates. Other critical factors include the patient's understanding of their illness and therapy, and the complexity of the prescribed treatment regimen. Incorrect inhaler technique is also a common failing.When prescribing in primary or specialist care, healthcare professionals should address adherence as a vital part of the patient consultation. Improved patient education may also increase adherence rates.

A Cross-Sectional Study of Medication Adherence Pattern and Factors Affecting the Adherence in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

“…64 Misunderstanding of this type is common. 64 In agreement to those studies, the current study has shown that majority of non-adherent patients were found to be illiterate.…”

“…64 Misunderstanding of this type is common. 64 In agreement to those studies, the current study has shown that majority of non-adherent patients were found to be illiterate. Language barrier might create difficulty in understanding the medical instructions and even if they are able to understand the language of their medical instructions, they cannot comprehend the medical information.…”

The Use of Inhalation Therapy in the Management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in the Community: A Review of Studies

“…Strategies to improve adherence to inhalation therapy among patients (e.g. patient instruction and education) have been shown to work among patients with asthma (Put et al, 2003;Onyirimba et al, 2003), whereas, in COPD patients, these strategies were less successful (Rand, 2005;Restrepo, et al, 2008). Therefore, non-adherence remains an unresolved problem despite decades of research, and is a factor resulting in suboptimal clinical outcomes and poor disease control.…”

“…Articles examining medication adherence for other pulmonary diseases such as asthma were excluded. This criterion was applied given that COPD is a progressive disease, and that treatments for COPD differ markedly compared to other respiratory diseases (Rand, 2005). However, studies that examined COPD together with other diseases were included.…”

Adherence to Therapy in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

“…Medication non-adherence can take many forms: failure to fill prescriptions (primary nonadherence) or overuse, underuse or alteration of schedule or doses of medication (secondary non-adherence) (Bourbeau et al, 2007;George et al, 2007;Rand et al, 2005).…”