Patient compliance: A concept analysis

Abstract

Background: Patient compliance with regimens is one of the most researched and least-understood behavioral concerns in the healthcare profession due to the many meanings employed in multidiscipline over time. Thus, a thorough examination of the idea of patient compliance is necessary. Objective: This paper aims to explore and identify the essence of the term patient compliance to achieve an operational definition of the concept. Method: Walker and Avant’s eight-step approach was used. A literature search was conducted using keywords of patient compliance AND healthcare profession from five databases: PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, and Cochrane database, published from 1995 to 2022. Results: The attributes of patient compliance include 1) self-care behavior, 2) following health recommendations, and 3) willing collaboration with health professionals. Antecedents of patient compliance were characteristics of therapeutic regimens, communication of health advice, and patients’ attitudes toward professional recommendations. Consequences include improved clinical outcomes, quality of life, and lifestyle or behavior modification. Conclusion: This concept analysis offers a valuable perspective on patient compliance that guides the nursing practice in providing better interventions to promote compliance among patients.

Concordance in the healthcare context: A concept analysis

“…Communication also plays an important part in adherence and compliance, which are the consequences of concordance in our paper. This supports the concept analysis of patient compliance by Thummak et al ( 2023 ) that communication of health recommendations was an antecedent of compliance. These findings strengthen the significance of concordance in nursing practice, as it potentially improves adherence and compliance.…”

“…Based on the attributes found, concordance is a communication process between patients and healthcare providers that reflects therapeutic partnership and agreement on treatment regimens. This implies that concordance represents the aspects of interaction and relationship between healthcare providers and patients, which differ from adherence and compliance, which usually involve patients' behaviors in following healthcare advice (Thummak et al, 2023 ). Concordance, in contrast, incorporates several perspectives and advocates for decision-making equality between the providers and the clients, which drives toward patient-centeredness (Atal et al, 2019 ) that acknowledges the patient’s personal experience and the right to comprehend the treatment being provided in light of their actual experience with the illness (Rae, 2021 ).…”

“…There is a lack of a specific tool that can comprehensively measure all attributes. Unlike adherence and compliance, which can be assessed in an objective manner in terms of the pill counts (Rae, 2021 ) or patients’ reported medication-taking behavior (Thummak et al, 2023 ), concordance is more abstract since its attributes are more likely the perceptions of patients that can be challenging to quantify. Therefore, more research is needed to develop a comprehensive instrument to assess concordance thoroughly.…”

“…However, misuse of the phrases “compliance,” “adherence,” and “concordance” occurs among medical professionals and in literature (Rae, 2021 ). Compliance is the act of practicing self-care by conforming to health suggestions that show willing cooperation with medical experts (Thummak et al, 2023 ). Adherence is the extent to which an individual’s actions align with the agreed-upon suggestions (World Health Organization, 2003 ).…”