Assessment of Medication Adherence in Chronic Illness Patients in the Department of General Medicine.

Abstract

Introduction: Medication adherence or taking medications correctly is defined as the extent to which patients take medication as prescribed by doctors, that is extent to patient's behaviour such as taking medications with respect to timing, dosage, and frequency. This involves factors of getting prescriptions filled, remembering to take medication on time, and understanding the directions. "It also includes the initiation of the treatment, implementation of the prescribed regime, and discontinuation of the pharmacotherapy
Methodology: This Prospective observational study was carried out for a period of 6 months, where subjects were enrolled based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria .patient demographics (present age, age at menopause, sex, weight, height),family history, surgical history, past medical history, past medication history, vitals (blood pressure), Blood sugar levels were documented. A Pretested questionnaire prepared following WHO guidelines was used to document subjects opinion, compliance and understanding regarding the therapy. Basic demographic details and other details regarding their diet and life style habits were enquired. The study procedure was explained to the subjects and a written consent will be obtained from them. Confidentiality of the data will be assured to the patient
Results: We have studies and analysed 120 chronic out patients aged between 18 years to 60years in that we have compared adherence levels in baseline and follow up stage.
Conclusion: Adherence is a key factor associated with the effectiveness of all pharmacological therapies but is particularly critical for medications used in chronic diseases. The reasons for poor medication adherence are often multifactorial. The present study found a relationship between gender, age, literacy, complexity of drug regimens and medication adherence. The final result concluded that medication adherence was improved, while comparing the baseline to followup Further studies with large sample size must be done to understand all the reasons for patient medicationnon-adherence.