Navigating medication adherence in chronic diseases

Adherence is defined as taking medications as prescribed to achieve a therapeutic outcome. It consists of 3 main components: initiation, implementation, and discontinuation. Methods of assessing adherence can be broadly classified as direct or indirect. Factors influencing adherence include patient-related, therapy-related, and healthcare system-related variables. Poor adherence in chronic disease management leads to a cascade of negative clinical, economic, and psychosocial outcomes. Evidence consistently demonstrates that non-adherence is not merely a patient-level issue but a systemic healthcare challenge. Effective strategies to improve adherence must therefore be comprehensive, targeting barriers at multiple levels to achieve meaningful improvements in patient outcomes and quality of life. These strategies include supporting the initiation phase, improving implementation, and addressing challenges related to treatment discontinuation. This paper presents key findings from a literature review on adherence and its importance in clinical practice, as well as current and emerging strategies to enhance medication adherence among patients with chronic diseases.