A new comprehensive review shows that only about half of all patients who are prescribed medication actually take their medication as prescribed. Interventions such as support from family members or pharmacists, education and text messaging were not found to improve the situation in a reliable manner.
The authors are now encouraging collaboration between researchers so that non-useful interventions are not repeated and that promising interventions like simplified dosing (‘single-pill’) are thoroughly tested.
Original research paper published by The Cochrane Library on November 19, 2014.
Names and affiliations of selected authors
