Patients’ Perspective of Medication Adherence in Chronic Conditions: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

IntroductionAbout 50% of patients do not take their long-term therapy for chronic conditions as prescribed. Many studies have centered on patients’ adherence to a specific treatment or single conditions, but few have taken all chronic conditions into consideration from a patient’s perspective. This study aims to explore factors that impact on drug compliance and to identify strategies to improve this from the perspective of patients with at least one chronic condition.MethodsPatients were recruited by healthcare professionals from a hospital pharmacy, four community pharmacies, patient associations, and a primary care center in Barcelona. Five focus groups were conducted (N = 36). Conversations were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim to allow qualitative analysis.ResultsStudy subjects were aged 39–90 years (mean 65 years) and the mean number of comorbidities per patient was 2.3 (range 1–7). The main modifiers of therapeutic conduct were: patients’ health beliefs, patient–prescriber relationships, and patients’ motivation and perception of illness control. Study participants wanted greater participation in decision-making concerning their health and increased education about their illness and medication. They also wanted individualized healthcare that took their preferences and personal and emotional issues into account.ConclusionOur results highlight how the patient–prescriber’s relationship and factors such as health beliefs, motivation and perception of illness control impact on medication adherence in chronic patients. Future interventions to optimize adherence to treatment should focus on shared decision-making and more extensive health education.FundingCelgene Corporation.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12325-016-0394-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…People who were not able to understand the informed consent or had difficulties complying with the research procedures were excluded. In qualitative research, data saturation is often used as a sampling principle (Morse, 2015). This meant recruitment would be stopped when no new information was found.…”