Factors Related to Patients' Adherence to Medication and Lifestyle Change Recommendations: Data from Canada

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors related to patients' adherence to prescribed medications and recommended lifestyle changes. Two hundred and ninety-eight adults from a northern Canadian community filled out a questionnaire. Several intriguing findings emerged: (a) Adherence to lifestyle changes and participants' age presented a U-shape relationship; (b) Those who perceived themselves to be in poor health were less likely than those in good health to adhere to lifestyle changes; (c) Barriers such as the severe winter weather, lack of transportation, and cost of medications contributed negatively to adherence; and (d) If doctors provided sufficient information on the benefits and use of the prescribed medications and the proposed lifestyle changes and if patients reported trusting their doctors, they tended to adhere more. Physicians can play an important role in promoting adherence among patients. Community health workers should make efforts in reducing barriers that interfere with patient adherence.

Adherence challenges encountered in an intervention programme to combat chronic non-communicable diseases in an urban black community, Cape Town

“…Their preferred health message disseminator was, in order of preference, a doctor, nurse, other health professional and trained community members (community health care workers). This may be as a result of the fact that these health professionals are regarded as having expertise in health matters confirming the findings of Parker, Steyn, Levitt, and Lombard (2012), Parajuli, Saleh, Thapa, and Ali (2014) and Levesque et al (2012). These authors found that adherence to interventions worked better when the doctor is the source of the information as this allowed patients to build a relationship with the person disseminating the health messages and facilitated discussing their problems.…”

“…Similarly, previous research showed that the implementation of, and adherence to lifestyle changes are influenced by people's social environment and personal characteristics (Levesque, Li, & Pahal, 2012;Mayega, Etajak, Rutebemberwa, Tomson, & Kiguli, 2014;Muchiri, Gericke, & Rheeder, 2012;Steyl & Phillips, 2014). Participants also questioned the benefits of health interventions probably because of clearly visible consequences of not conforming to recommended actions not being disseminated.…”

Risk of type 2 diabetes: health care provider perceptions of prevention adherence

“…The environment, according to SCT, influences behavior and determines opportunities for behavior change (Bandura, 1998). Consistent with previous research (Levesque et al, 2012), participants discussed the patient-provider relationship and specific activities to achieve an effective relationship as distinct contributors to adherence. High quality relationships are defined as those that are collaborative in nature and foster a sense of trust (Ratanawongsa et al, 2013).…”

“…Research has examined the influence of personal determinants of health on participation in and adherence to health-promoting behavior. Behaviors, such as healthy eating and self-care, have been found to be positively affected by motivation to change (Centis et al, 2014), social support (Levesque, Li, & Pahal, 2012), personality (Lunn, Nowson, Worsley, & Torres, 2014), and self-worth and self-esteem (Huberty et al, 2014). Though, motivation and self-efficacy have also been described as important barriers to diabetes care by both patients and providers (Simmons, Lillis, Swan, & Haar, 2007).…”

Interaction between Psychotropic Medications and Alcohol: Perceptions among Patients Attending an Adult Mental Health Day Hospital Program

“…More importantly, about a quarter of all respondents reported perceived harm as a result of a drug-alcohol interaction, including serious consequences such as hospital admission and worsening of their psychiatric conditions. The current study did not explore reasons why participants did not follow advice from health care professionals, but we hypothesize the following: challenges associated with avoiding alcohol completely when taking an interacting medication for a chronic condition, lack of a strong therapeutic alliance between the provider and patient, 13 inadequate health literacy, insufficient time for proper counselling, and emotional barriers involving selfmedication. Future studies should explore these hypotheses to…”