Overview of patient compliance with medication dosing: a literature review.
The literature was reviewed in an effort to relate frequency of dosing and other influences with patient compliance in medication taking. Once-a-day and twice-a-day regimens were associated with significantly better compliance (73% and 70%, respectively) than were three-times-daily (52%) and four-times-daily (42%) regimens. Compliance is not related to income, social class, occupation, or educational background, and it cannot be accurately predicted by physicians. Unintentional errors in taking medication are made by 50% to 90% of patients.
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004358:Drug Therapy; D004522:Educational Status; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D009790:Occupations; D010349:Patient Compliance; D012646:Self Administration; D012923:Social Class; D013997:Time Factors