[Prevalence of non-adherence to medication among patients treated for selected chronic conditions].

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of this phenomenon among patients being treated for selected chronic conditions.
Material and Methods: As many as 63,221 patients treated for hypertension, gastroesophageal reflux disease, Alzheimer disease, depression, schizophrenia, and memory loss were enrolled to this multicenter, questionnaire-based open study The primary outcome measure was patient adherence assessed with 4-item Morisky questionnaire. Only those respondents who gave negative answers to all questionnaire questions were assumed adherent.
Results: Out of respondents, 83.8%--in different ways--were nonadherent, and only 16.2% were adherent. Significant differences in adherence were observed with different diseases (p < 0.05), asymptomatic versus symptomatic nature of disease (asymptomatic diseases--81.5%, versus symptomatic diseases--84.7%, in average, p < 0.05), as well as psychiatric, versus organic disease type (nonadherence in 85.6, and 82.1% patients, p < 0.05).
Conclusion: Study proved very high prevalence of non-adherence in patient treated for chronic conditions. Patients are non-adherent particularly often in a case of psychiatric conditions.