Adherence is the extent to which a person’s use of a treatment corresponds with the agreed recommendations of a healthcare professional.
Adherence can involve taking a medicine at the recommended dose and times, following dietary or activity recommendations, attending appointments, or completing other parts of a treatment plan. The term emphasizes the person’s involvement in an agreed treatment plan rather than simply whether they “followed orders.”
Poor adherence can reduce treatment effectiveness and, in some circumstances, contribute to treatment failure. However, an unsuccessful treatment should not automatically be attributed to poor adherence; other factors may be responsible.
QUICK FACT
Adherence is not the same as obedience. Modern healthcare generally recognizes treatment decisions as something patients and healthcare professionals should discuss and agree on together.
COMMONLY CONFUSED WITH
Compliance: Compliance traditionally implies that a patient follows instructions given by a healthcare professional, while adherence emphasizes an agreed treatment plan and is generally preferred in modern healthcare.
SEE ALSO
- Treatment failure
- Medication safety
- Polypharmacy
- Drug resistance
