15 Reasons Why Patient Compliance is an Issue?

Patients taking over-the-counter and prescription drugs often do not take the medication as intended, sometimes being dangerous to their health and well-being.

These widespread problems are causing health professionals to worry about how to ensure patient compliance to medication. Patient Adherence: Problems and Opportunities. In order to solve the problem, there is a need of detail examination. 

The negative effects it has on patients and society as a whole, and practical ways to persuade people to take their medication for better health.

Patient Adherence: Problems and Opportunities that go beyond the common definitions and quick and ineffective solutions are often presented in the complex case of non-compliance.

Leading authorities define the range of reasons for a patient’s behavior and provide practical strategies that address the root of the problem.

Patient Compliance is the method whereby the patient sticks to the prescribed and distributed procedure as intentional by the prescriber and dispenser.

It is defined as the expanse to which a person’s behavior (in terms of taking medications, following diets, or executing lifestyle changes) coexists with medical or health advice.

Compliance with therapy is an indicator of positive behavior. In which the patient is motivated adequately to adhere to the prescribed treatment because of a recognized self-benefit and positive outcome.

Some Reasons for Patient Compliance

Here are;

• Fear:

Patients may be agitating for potential side effects. They may have also accomplished previous side effects with the same or alike medicine.

In addition, patients report not taking their prescription because they may have validated side effects experienced by a friend or family member who was taking the same or alike medication.  seeing those side results experienced by someone else may have guided them to believe the medication produces those problems.

• Cost:

The biggest obstacle to taking medication correctly is often the cost of the medication given to the patient. High costs may lead to patients not completing their medications in the first place. They may limit what they fill to supplement their diet.

To overcome this, check that the medication you are prescribing is a form of patient insurance. Selecting and defining a drug that is known to be on the discount list can reduce costs no matter what the insurance policy is.

• Failure of Communication and Lack of Comprehensive:

Patients vary greatly in their educational, intellectual, and language skills. The definition of the disease process introduced in English may be clear to a native English-speaking college speaker. But may not be completely understood by a person who has not finished high school or speaks English as a second language.

One of our duties as a physician is to provide patients with an explanation of their health problems and our recommended solutions using clear and logical terms for each patient.

However, very little of our medical training is designed to facilitate this important communication. We also lack the tools and time to monitor how effectively we communicate with our patients.

• Psychosocial Stress:

A depressed patient is often unable to care for himself. Most of our patients are experiencing complex and stressful living conditions.

Causes such as poverty, long working hours, tough parenting problems, or problematic relationships can leave people feeling worn out, feeling trapped, and simply impotent to cope with the extra time and energy needed to fully control chronic illness.

• Drug and Alcohol Dependence:

People who are addicted to alcohol or drugs fail to take care of business in many areas of life and are often inconsistent or inconsistent with their health care.

These patients often experience medical problems of their addiction, such as hepatitis C or cirrhosis; due to carelessness.

They are prone to many other chronic illnesses. Treating addiction is often necessary for the treatment of associated diseases. But denying that these patients often have it interferes with effective medical care.

• Level of Prescribing:

Introduce the approach to patient interaction at the descriptive level. Make sure to involve patients in their medications so that they can feel ownership in the treatment program.

Make it easier to take medication Use a simplified form of medicine based on patient characteristics at the initial stage of drug use.

• Psychological (Negative attitudes towards treatment):

Psychological elements that patients recognize as features of medical non-compliance are divided into five categories. Which incorporate fear of disclosure, depression, depression and weakness, anxiety, and denial.

Furthermore, it has been suggested that obsession with irrational thoughts or ideas or opinions compels one to act repeatedly, compulsively, and unwillingly.

• Social Issues:

Social issues consisted of seven categories including occupational safety, concern and environmental pressure, advertising, media, cyberspace, management pride, and a support system.

In some cases, compliance with a doctor’s prescription may result in adverse effects on a person’s work; therefore, one chooses not to conform to them.

• Economic Issues:

The economic problems of disobeying a doctor’s instructions included two categories that included direct and indirect medical costs. Low income and the inability to pay for health care are among the most important.

During the disease, indirect medical expenses such as transportation, accommodation, food are set aside for each person.

Because of these unaffordable costs, he or she, unfortunately, is forced to no longer follow the doctor’s instructions.

Conclusion

Non-adherence to patient medication is a major health problem worldwide. There are many related reasons for the same. Although patient education is key to improving compliance.

Healthcare professionals should identify possible strategies to improve drug adherence by limiting its effectiveness and ultimately improving treatment outcomes.

It should be a multi-sectoral approach that needs to be done with the support of all stakeholders.

Managing the risks of compliance is not an easy task; it involves several complex processes and a concerted effort to create a culture of success.

We hope the seven tips above will help you navigate how to better manage compliance risks in your organization.