Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 May;28(2):287-300.
doi: 10.1016/j.cger.2012.01.008.

Medication adherence to multidrug regimens

Zachary A Marcum  1 , Walid F Gellad
Affiliations

Medication adherence to multidrug regimens

Zachary A Marcum et al. Clin Geriatr Med. 2012 May.

Abstract

Despite the fact that medication adherence has been extensively described in the literature over the last several decades, a quote by Becker and Maiman from over 35 years ago best captures the current state of our understanding: “Patient compliance[sic adherence] has become the best documented, but least understood, health behavior.” Future research is greatly needed to identify and translate safe and effective interventions into routine clinical practice to improve adherence. Only then can we begin to make significant improvements to the medication use process and, in turn, the health of older adults.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Examples of Self-reported Medication Adherence Measures–
Figure 2
Figure 2
General Conceptual Model of Medication Adherence and the Interaction Between Patient Factors, from Gellad et al, 2009,
Figure 3
Figure 3
Conceptual Model of the Effect of Polypharmacy onMedication Adherence
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Qato DM, Alexander GC, Conti RM, et al. Use of prescription and over-the-counter medications and dietary supplements among older adults in the United States. JAMA. 2008;300:2867–78. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hajjar ER, Cafiero AC, Hanlon JT. Polypharmacy in elderly patients. Am J Geriatr Pharmacother. 2007;5:345–51. - PubMed
    1. Gellad WF, Grenard J, McGlynn EA. A review of barriers to medication adherence: a framework for driving policy options. RAND Corporation; 2009.
    1. World Health Organization (WHO) Adherence to Long-Term Therapies: Evidence for Action. 2003.
    1. Haynes RB, Ackloo E, Sahota N, et al. Interventions for enhancing medication adherence. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008:CD000011. - PubMed

Publication types