Beliefs about medication determine whether patient will actually take it

Although patients’ beliefs about their medication determine how adherent patients are in taking their medication, there are indications that their current beliefs say little about how they will use the medication in the long run. This has emerged from research conducted by Hanneke Zwikker (researcher at The Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL). She received her PhD from the Radboud University Nijmegen on December 2nd.

 
When patients with a chronic condition take their medication as prescribed, it helps patients be healthier and would also save the Dutch health care system money – reason enough to work on improving medication adherence. To find out how medication adherence might be optimized in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, Hanneke Zwikker and her colleagues conducted research among rheumatologists and patients at the Sint Maartenskliniek in Nijmegen. The initiative for the study came from the Sint Maartenskliniek.
 
Weighing up the pros and cons
One of the things that emerged from the research was that, either consciously or unconsciously, people weigh up the pros and cons of taking their medication. The balance between the perceived pros and cons determine in part whether patients take their medication as prescribed. For example, the less patients perceive taking their medication as necessary, and the more concerned they are about the adverse effects, the greater the chance they either won’t take medication or won’t take it as prescribed. This is known as “medication nonadherence” and can harm a patient’s health.
 
Beliefs
Zwikker also investigated other aspects of the role played by these beliefs. She demonstrated that patients’ beliefs about their medication remain strong predictors of medication adherence if other psychological factors, like anxiety and depression, are taken into account. She also found indications that patients’ current beliefs about their medication say little about how they will use the medication over time. This kind of information helps to design effective approaches for improving medication adherence.
 
Medication containers that monitor use
The work of Zwikker and her colleagues has generated ideas for altering the beliefs patients with rheumatoid arthritis have about their medication and so, to improve their medication adherence. Among others, this has led to the start of a new study at the Sint Maartenskliniek on how a medication container with a chip that measures medication adherence affects factors such as beliefs about medication and adherence. This study will offer even more specific guidelines for optimising medication adherence.