Treatment FAQ

what percentage of adolescent patients fully comply with medical treatment recommendations?

by Ewald Gleichner Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago

Rates of adherence in the adolescent population vary widely, from 10% to 89%, for chronic illnesses (6–8).

Full Answer

What is compliance with a patient’s treatment recommendations?

Paediatricians and other health care professionals are often faced with adolescents whomtheysuspect may not be following their treatment recommendations. Compliance involves following the doctor’s orders or “the accurate observance by a patient of a prevention or treatment regimen set out by a health professional” (1).

What is the compliance rate for children and adolescents with cancer?

Among children and adolescents with cancer, compliance ranges from 40% to 66%. Compliance for sickle cell disease ranges from 49% to 79%; approximately 66% of patients with cystic fibrosis and diabetes fully comply.

Do adolescents adherence to treatment recommendations differ by lifestyle factors?

This may suggest that adolescents have better adherence to treatments that have more immediate and potentially serious consequences if not followed, compared with recommendations that have less obvious benefits or are more intrusive to their lifestyle.

What is the compliance rate of patients with chronic illnesses?

Among adults, highest compliance rates are documented for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), arthritis, and gastrointestinal disorders. While an estimated 50% of children and adolescents with chronic illnesses fully comply with medical recommendations, rates fluctuate depending on the illness.

What is the percentage of patient compliance?

Typically, adherence rates of 80% or more are needed for optimal therapeutic efficacy. However, it is estimated that adherence to chronic medications is around 50%. Adherence rates can go down as time passes after the initial prescription is written, or as barriers emerge or multiply.

What percentage of patients do not adhere to treatment recommendations?

Research during the past several decades indicates that, depending upon their conditions and the complexity of the regimens required, as many as 40% of patients fail to adhere to treatment recommendations (DiMatteo and DiNicola 1982; DiMatteo 1994, 2004a, 2004c; Lin et al 1995; Rizzo and Simons 1997; Dunbar-Jacob et al ...

What percentage of patients are non compliant?

According to the National Institutes of Health, 75 percent of Americans have trouble taking their medicine as directed. This is known as medical non-adherence, and it's costing many people their good health and the medical system billions of dollars.

Why do patients not adhere to medical advice?

Depending on the patient, provider, and situation, contributing factors may include the patient's social and economic status or education level, the complexity of the treatment and instructions, health system variables, poor provider communication, patient depression or stress, and physical or financial obstacles to ...

How many people are non adherent to medication?

Medication nonadherence is widely recognized as a common and costly problem. Approximately 30% to 50% of US adults are not adherent to long-term medications leading to an estimated $100 billion in preventable costs annually.

How often do patients follow medical advice?

On average, doctors and their close relatives adhere to medical guidelines just over 50% of the time. The average patient complies slightly more than 54% of the time. Doctors often complain that patients don't follow instructions.

What is the difference between non-adherence and non-compliance?

Generally, "noncompliance" describes patients who deliberately refuse to follow a treatment plan. "Nonadherence" is the behavior in which a patient unintentionally fails to follow a plan.

What are some reasons why a patient may not adhere to his/her prescribed medication regimen?

The most common reasons for patient non-compliance to medications are intentional and include: high drug costs, fear of adverse events, being prescribed multiple medications, and experiencing either instant relief or medication ineffectiveness leading to self-discontinuation of medications.

Why do patients become non compliant?

These are a few of the common reasons for non-compliance and non-adherence: Cost and affordability. Lack of understanding/comprehension of advice, whether due to language barriers, cognitive abilities, being afraid to ask for clarification or other reasons. Mistrust or a lack of strong patient-provider relationship.

How many people follow doctors orders?

Report shows over 60 percent of Americans don't follow doctors' orders in taking prescription meds - Scope.

What is the term used to describe a patient who does not follow the medical advice given?

Noncompliant. The term used to describe a patient who does not follow the medical advice given.

What problems might occur due to a patient being noncompliant with healthcare recommendations?

Non-compliance leaves you at risk for financial losses, security breaches, license revocations, business disruptions, poor patient care, erosion of trust, and a damaged reputation.

How does treatment compliance affect adolescents?

For children and adolescents, treatment compliance is influenced by numerous factors. In general, females are more compliant than males, and adolescents are less compliant than younger children. Among adolescents, researchers report that compliance may be related to adolescents’ needs for independence combined with their willingness (or lack thereof) to accept the authority of healthcare providers. For example, research suggests that a cancer diagnosis coupled with cognitive impairments resulting from aggressive treatments predicts poorer decision-making abilities, including higher incidences of high-risk behaviors (e.g., smoking, drug use). Self-esteem, cognitive and social functioning, lower socioeconomic status, lower parent education, feelings of invincibility, illness knowledge, perceived vulnerability, treatment complexity, emotional problems, and prevailing psychiatric illness also relate to compliance.

What is treatment compliance?

Treatment compliance is defined as the degree to which patients’ behaviors (e.g., attending follow-up appointments, engaging in preventive care, following recommended medical regimens) correspond with the professional medical advice prescribed. The terms compliance and adherence are often used interchangeably; however, because compliance may carry a negative connotation, some prefer to use adherence to emphasize patients’ active roles in healthcare management as opposed to the submissiveness suggested in the definition of compliance. This distinction in definition acknowledges that patients and providers can move away from the patriarchal model of health care, promotes patient autonomy, and takes into account evidence suggesting that those who adhere steadfastly to providers’ instructions may not be the healthiest psychologically or physically. While the patient’s active role is considered vital in committing to a treatment regimen, for the purposes of this overview, the term compliance is utilized to maintain consistency.

Why is compliance with asthma so problematic?

For example, among children with asthma, compliance is often problematic, because the disease can be unpredictable with long symptom-free periods.

How does compliance increase?

Compliance increases when patients believe treatments are necessary and important. Healthcare providers play a critical role in this process by helping patients weigh the risks and benefits while taking into consideration social contexts and perceived barriers. Successful compliance also requires that an individual develops the motivation and self-efficacy required to confront a long-term stressor.

What are some examples of behavioral compliance?

Examples include the health belief model by Marshall Becker and colleagues, which states that compliance is related to beliefs about illness severity and treatment regimen benefits as well as vulnerability perceptions. Irwin Rosenstock and colleagues’ health benefits model add that patients will weigh the treatment costs and benefits before deciding whether to perform the recommended behaviors. Individuals who view themselves as more vulnerable or who view their illness as very serious are likely to exhibit greater compliance with health behaviors, thereby promoting positive outcomes. The role of self-efficacy, included in models such as Howard Leventhal’s self-regulatory model of illness and Ronald Roger’s protection motivation theory, is also salient in that patients displaying higher levels of confidence in their ability to complete treatment are more likely to succeed.

What is the third method of measuring compliance?

Collateral Reports. A third method of measuring compliance is through reports by family and healthcare providers. Although this method is rarely used, except with young children, it can be valuable to compare self-reports to reports from third parties.

What is the best treatment for schizophrenia?

Family therapy and individual educational sessions work best for individuals with schizophrenia and psychosis. Among patients with depression, informational pamphlets and drug counseling decrease depressive symptoms, decrease relapses, and increase compliance.

What are the factors that affect adherence to a treatment plan?

Although some of the results are contradictory, factors that appear to have a positive impact on adherence are positive family functioning, close friends, internal locus of control, treatment with immediate benefits, parent's beliefs in seriousness of illness and efficacy of treatment, and physician empathy. Other factors that seem to have a negative impact on adherence are being an older adolescent, mental health issues with the caregiver, family conflicts, complex therapy, medication with side effects and denial of illness. Teens who are experiencing emotional, social, family or mental health problems struggle more with adhering to medical regimens; low investment in the treatment plan can be a sign of depression or other psychosocial problems during the teen years. Patient beliefs and attitudes are among the most studied predictors of adherence. The Health Belief Model ( 49) and other tools have identified many personal variables associated with adherence – the patient's perception of susceptibility to disease, of the severity of the illness and of the efficacy of the proposed therapy. Other factors include perceptions of obstacles to adherence, attitudes toward therapeutic regimens, parents' and other significant adults' or peers' perception of the therapeutic regimen, and the level of influence of these persons on the adolescent (50, unpublished data).

Why is low adherence important in adolescence?

Health care professionals must be alert to the high prevalence of low adherence to treatment during adolescence. Low adherence increases morbidity and medical complications, contributes to poorer quality of life and an overuse of the health care system. Many different factors have an impact on adherence. However, critical factors ...

Why is adherence evaluation important?

Effective, nonjudgemental communication is essential in fostering adherence to health-promoting and preventive practices, and to the treatment of chronic health conditions in teens.

What is motivational enhancement therapy?

Motivational enhancement therapy ( 62) is based on a nonjudgemental approach characterized by warmth, respect and empathy, but also curiosity (interest in the adolescent's view), humility (eagerness to learn more about the adolescent's perspective), low investment (which involves the clinician exploring, accepting and trying to understand the adolescent's view rather than coercing them to change attitudes and behaviours) and flexibility. There is acceptance that enhancing motivation takes time and occurs not through coercion or education, but by helping the adolescent focus on the reasons for his or her low adherence ( 55 ). Motivational enhancement therapy is also based on the youth's readiness to change. Faced with a necessity for change, the teen can be in five different stages of motivation – precontemplation (denial of any problem), contemplation (acknowledgement of a problem, but not of a need to change), preparation (acknowledgement of a need to change, but not ready yet), action (ready for help) and maintenance (wants help to maintain the changes). Over time, the teen may move between these different states, randomly and in a nonlinear fashion. The health care provider adapts the intervention according to the teen's stage. Different techniques can be useful – open-ended questions (‘Can you tell me about the problems for you in following your treatment’), reflective listening (‘So, one of your reason for not taking your pills is that they are too big’), affirmation (‘It is normal to feel weak and tired with your illness; taking your medication will support you') and eliciting mixed feelings (‘So, you do not like to take the pills at school, but you also have noticed that when you do not take the pills, you cannot concentrate). One of the most valuable techniques is to discuss the pros and cons of adherence with the teen and summarize the adolescent's perspectives aloud with them.

What is low adherence in health care?

Low adherence increases health care costs and may lead a health care team to withhold treatment. In the case of organ transplantation, low adherence is a leading cause of graft rejection and may cause death ( 13 ).

What is adherence in medicine?

The term adherence has been used more in recent literature, and is defined as “the extent to which a person's behaviour, in terms of taking medications, following diets, or executing lifestyle changes, coincides with medical or health advice” ( 2 ).

What is resilience in adolescents?

Resilience is “a process for identifying and developing resources or strengths to manage stressors in order to gain positive outcome from the experience” in which emphasis is placed on positive health behaviours ( 65 ). Reinforcing resilience should be one of the components of health care in the professional's attempt to enhance adherence (Saewyc and Tonkin [pages 43–47]).

TYPE 1 DIABETES

Type 1 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes in youth ( 4 ), although recent data suggest that it may account for a large proportion of cases diagnosed in adult life ( 5 ).

TYPE 2 DIABETES

For information on testing for type 2 diabetes and prediabetes in children and adolescents, please refer to Section 2 “ Classification and Diagnosis of Diabetes .” For additional support for these recommendations, see the ADA position statement “Evaluation and Management of Youth-Onset Type 2 Diabetes” ( 2).

TRANSITION FROM PEDIATRIC TO ADULT CARE

13.102 Pediatric diabetes providers should begin to prepare youth for transition to adult health care in early adolescence and, at the latest, at least 1 year before the transition. E

Why don't patients follow treatment plans?

Reasons Patients Don't Comply. Research published in 2011 suggests that some of the main reasons patients do not adhere to treatment plans include: 5 . Denial of the problem: Many diseases and conditions are easy to ignore, even when they have been diagnosed. This is particularly true for diseases that are asymptomatic, ...

How many people die from treatable diseases in the US?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 125,000 people with treatable ailments die each year in the United States because they do not take their medication properly. 1 

How to keep a medicine calendar?

Keep a "medicine calendar" near your medicine: Make a checkmark every time you take your dose. Tell your doctor if paying for prescription drugs is a problem: Your doctor may be able to prescribe a generic medication or offer other suggestions to offset the cost of a drug. (Generic drugs can cost 80 to 85% less .)

What to do if you are not following through on a drug?

If you find yourself tempted not to follow through on your treatment, contact your doctor to share your reasons, and together, to the extent it's possible, work out an alternative you both can agree on.

What happens if you don't follow through with your doctor?

Needless to say, when patients don't follow through with the treatment decisions they have made together with their physicians, it can cause additional problems. They may not get over their sickness or injury. They may get even sicker or injure themselves further—or worse.

Do kidney transplant patients take anti-rejection medications?

Even those at high risk of serious complications often resist following treatment regimens. A 2016 study found that a third of kidney transplant patients don’t take their anti-rejection medications. 3  An estimated 50% of patients with cardiovascular disease and its major risk factors have poor adherence to prescribed medications. 4 .

Can you take prescriptions as directed 2021?

Updated on February 24, 2021. It may seem obvious, even non-negotiable, that if your doctor gives you a prescription, you'll have it filled by your pharmacist and you'll take it as directed; if he or she gives you a referral to a specialist or recommends lifestyle changes, you'll follow through.

Abstract

  • Paediatricians and other health care professionals are often faced with adolescents whomtheysuspect may not be following their treatment recommendations. Compliance involves following the doctor's orders or “the accurate observance by a patient of a prevention or treatment regimen set out by a health professional” (1). The term adherence has been u...
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Scope of The Problem

  • Patient adherence is important for the success of any medical treatment. In a meta-analysis including paediatric and adult populations, DiMatteo et al (5) compared the results of medical treatment in patients who adhered to their treatment with those who did not, and reported a 26% reduction in poor treatment outcome. The odds of a good outcome if the patient is adherent are …
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Understanding Low Adherence in Teens

  • Many different factors that potentially impact on adherence have been studied, such as demographic, familial, socioeconomic, personal, type of illness, therapeutic regimens and the relationship with health care professionals (14–48). Although some of the results are contradictory, factors that appear to have a positive impact on adherence are positive family fun…
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Evaluating Adherence with An Adolescent

  • There is no ‘gold standard' to assess adherence to a medical regimen. Direct and indirect methods of measurement have been described, both of which have limitations and benefits. Information on adherence is more reliable when it comes from multiple sources including the teen, parents and other health care providers on the team (53,54).
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Interventions to Improve Adherence

  • Given the many factors that contribute to low adherence in adolescents, there is no simple intervention that will apply to every adolescent scenario. Based on current research, a number of strategies are helpful in improving adherence. The first step is obviously to accurately identify and assess low adherence and to identify perceptions toward the treatment regimen and barriers to …
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Conclusion

  • Paediatricians and other health care providers must be alert to the high prevalence of low adherence to treatment during the adolescent years. Evaluation of adherence should be an important part of health care at regular intervals. Effective, nonjudgemental communication is essential in fostering adherence to health-promoting and preventive practices, and to the treatm…
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