title: Different aspects of adherence to antihypertensive treatments.
abstract: This review collects together data concerning the measurement of patient behavior towards antihypertensives, considering all its aspects - adherence, persistence and switching. The wide heterogeneity of terms, outcome definitions and methods of assessment (the multiplicity of approaches did not allow a full meta-analysis, but a qualitative description of the results) are demonstrated. The percentages of adherence/compliance from the studies discussed in this review range from 15 to 99% across different study designs, populations and methods. Large, observational studies are suggested as a reliable method to measure patient behavior. An emerging issue is the relevance of patient motivation and education, which could provide a higher level of compliance to treatment, thus allowing achievement of better clinical outcomes and improved use of resources for the healthcare system.
authors.affiliation: BE Consulting, Via Cappello, 12-37121, Verona, Italy. stefania.lopatriello@pbe.it
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lopatriello
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Berto
authors.forename: Joyce
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cramer
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bustacchini
authors.forename: Pierfrancesco
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ruffo