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Review
. 2023 Apr 19;15(4):e37828.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.37828. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Factors Associated With Non-adherence to Anti-depressant Medication in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Nazar Muhammad  1 , Salecah R Ullah  2 , Talwinder K Nagi  3 , Rao Ahmed Yousaf  4
Affiliations
Review

Factors Associated With Non-adherence to Anti-depressant Medication in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Nazar Muhammad et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

The present meta-analysis has been conducted to review currently available literature to examine the factors associated with adherence to anti-depressant medications in adults. This meta-analysis and systematic review followed the MOOSE (Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) guidelines. According to this analysis, the three most important electronic resources for research were CINAHL, EMBASE, and Medline. Google Scholar was used to supplementing the articles already available for review. Keywords used to find relevant articles included "predictors," "non-adherence," "anti-depressants," and "adults." Medical subject headings (MeSH) terms and Boolean operators ("AND" and "OR") were used in the search strategy to refine the search further. Studies included in this meta-analysis had information on factors associated with non-adherence to anti-depressant medication. The study evaluated samples of adult participants over 18 years with a diagnosis of depression and who had been prescribed anti-depressants. In conclusion, this meta-analysis examined the relationship between demographic factors and non-adherence to anti-depressant medications. The findings revealed that gender, educational status, income level, marital status, and area of residence did not significantly predict non-adherence to anti-depressants. However, older age and polypharmacy were significant predictors of adherence to anti-depressants. The study also found that individuals living in urban areas were more likely to adhere to anti-depressants, but the difference was not statistically significant.

Keywords: adults; anti-depressants; depression; factors; meta-analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flow diagram detailing the study selection process.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Effect of Gender. An odds ratio>1 shows a high number of males in the Adherence group, while an odds ratio<1 shows a high number of males in the non-adherence group.
Sources: References [12-20]
Figure 3
Figure 3. Effect of educational status A odds ratio>1 shows a high number of individuals with no education or primary education in the Adherence group. In contrast, an odds ratio<1 shows a high number of individuals with no education or primary education in the non-adherence group.
Sources: References [13,18]
Figure 4
Figure 4. Effect of income. An odds ratio>1 shows a high number of individuals with low income in the Adherence group. In contrast, an odds ratio<1 shows a high number of individuals with low income in the non-adherence group.
Sources: References [18-19]
Figure 5
Figure 5. Effect of Marital Status. An odds ratio>1 shows a high number of individuals who never married in an Adherence group. In contrast, an odds ratio<1 shows a high number of individuals who never married in a non-adherence group.
Sources: References [13,18,19]
Figure 6
Figure 6. Effect of Area of Residence. An odds ratio>1 shows a high number of individuals who live in urban areas in the Adherence group. In contrast, an odds ratio<1 shows a high number of individuals who live in urban areas in the non-adherence group.
Sources: References [12,13,17]
Figure 7
Figure 7. Effect of employment status. An odds ratio>1 shows a high number of individuals who were employed in the Adherence group. In contrast, an odds ratio<1 shows a high number of individuals who were employed in the non-adherence group.
Sources: References [13,16,18]
Figure 8
Figure 8. Effect of polypharmacy. An odds ratio>1 shows a high number of individuals with polypharmacy in the Adherence group. In contrast, an odds ratio<1 shows a high number of individuals with polypharmacy in the non-adherence group.
Sources: References [17,20]
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