ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the strategies for identifying and addressing non-adherence, both in clinical practice and in the context of research trials. Medical or health advice can refer to specific medications, medical procedures or overall health lifestyle habits. The extent to which a patient adheres to medical advice is influenced by numerous disease, individual and family factors. Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and indeterminate colitis, collectively known as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), are characterised by unpredictable periods of gastrointestinal inflammation and symptom remission. Adherence assessment strategies are broadly categorised as subjective or objective. While either subjective or objective an assessment categories can be used in clinical practice and research, the low cost and minimal burden of subjective methods make them particularly appealing in clinical settings. Numerous methods for objectively assessing adherence have been reported in the paediatric IBD and liver transplant literature.
