Abstract

We know that in the UK, up to 50% of medicines in England are not taken as intended and this has also been demonstrated in the USA. Studies have shown that there is a clear relationship between medication adherence and improved outcomes and a recent report suggests that up to £500 m could be potentially saved if adherence was improved in five key health categories. Over the past 10 years, a number of comprehensive reports have been published which describe the many factors that affect medication adherence. There have been many attempts to predict non-adherence in order to allow clinicians to effectively identify patients who need support with medication adherence However, no consistent link between adherence and demographic, socioeconomic or clinical factors has been made.