Patient Medication Adherence Assessment Tools for Primary Healthcare Physicians in Research and Practice

Abstract

The current issues of patient adherence and how to diagnose adherence at the primary health care level are relevant. One of the simplest, easiest, and most cost-effective ways to assess adherence is to administer patient surveys using questionnaires. The identification of factors associated with adherence will justify the implementation of a number of interventions to improve the effectiveness of patient care. reduce cases of exacerbations, and rehospitalization rates, and reduce treatment costs. The purpose of the study: is to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of different tools in the assessment of adherence to medication therapy.Methodology: The study used evidence-based data mining methods. 210 publications were found using keywords and clinical outcomes according to PICO in the international databases PubMed / Medline, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Google Scholar. The application of PRISMA and inclusion/exclusion criteria made it possible to select the most relevant sources (20 publications).Conclusions are drawn from the review: the Morisky scale (MMAS-8) is the most qualitative, simple, and widely used questionnaire. MMAS-8 has been used in more than 200 international studies in the last 9 years. The Self-Effectiveness Scale and the Short Drug Questionnaire are preferred for scientific research, as the interpretation of the results is not very convenient to use in outpatient settings due to the difficulty of scoring, given the limited time to the doctor and patient. The Medication Adherence Reporting Scale is recommended in preference to patients with psychiatric illness. The Medication Replenishment and Adherence Questionnaire has some limitations and isn’t very reliable given the study in which it was used. The Hill-Bone score requires further testing. Unfortunately, there is no "gold standard" for assessing adherence to therapy, but the Morisky scale (MMAS-8) is closer to it. Keywords: adherence assessment tools, scales, questionnaires, primary health care.