ABSTRACT

EVEN though adherence to prescribed treatment instructions serves patients’ own best interests, the extent to which patients do not comply with treatment regimens is staggering. Regardless of illness, it has been found that 50 percent of patients for whom medication is prescribed do not adhere to treatment instructions (Hendin, 1977), and regardless of regimen, fully one-third of all patients fail to comply with doctors’ instructions (Davis, 1966).