ABSTRACT
Poor adherence to prescribed medical treatment regimens is extremely common in both child and adult populations. Advances in medical technology are likely to increase the problem of poor adherence as treatment regimens become more complex and new treatments become available for previously incurable diseases. Direct observation of administration of a procedure has been extensively used in measures of adherence for children with diabetes. The quality of the relationship between patient and HP has been found to account for variance in adherence with treatment. Adolescents were found to be more likely to adhere with recommendations if they found the physician to be caring. Knowledge of illness and reasons for treatment have been found to correlate positively with adherence to daily physiotherapy in children with cystic fibrosis and asthma management. A common finding is that rates of adherence deteriorate as children get older. Adolescence has the peak rates for poor adherence irrespective of diagnosis: for diabetes.
