Definition
Compliance to your medicines is defined as following the instructions and advice on medicines made by your team of health care professionals.
The Importance includes:
- To get well and stay well.
- To take control of your own health & well being.
- To reduce the incidence of complications due to incorrect way of taking medicines.
- To prevent increase cost in due to additional Doctors/ Pharmacist consultation or hospital stay.
Reasons for not complying with your medicines
- Forgetting to take the medicines..
- Not understanding and or misinterpreting the instructions.
- Prescription not collected or not dispensed.
- Purpose of treatment is not clear.
- Complicated regimen.
- Instructions for administration not clear..
- Experiencing side effects.
- Not believing that the medicines can help.
- Mistakenly believing that the disorder has been sufficiently treated. (eg : thinking an infection is over just because the fever disappears)
- Fearing adverse consequences from or dependence on the medicines.
- Cost of medicines
- Not caring about getting better.
- Encountering obstacles. (eg : having difficulty swallowing tablets or capsules, having problems opening bottles, considering treatment inconvenient, and being unable to obtain the medicines)
Tips to Increase Compliance
- Take medicines at the same time everyday.
- Take medicines in conjunction with meal or other daily events, eg; brushing your teeth.
- Use special medicines taking aids to help you keep track of the schedule to take the medicines, eg; pill boxes, medicines taking chart is schedule to mark when you have taken the medications.
Talk to your pharmacist to help you to prepare your medicines taking; (see Illustration 1: For example of schedule medicines taking schedule table).
Medication name |
Form/Colour/ Shape/ sample |
Reason for use |
Time to be taken |
Notes(Side effects/ special instructions) |
Illustration 1: Schedule Table
- Use special medicines devices. eg; pill cutter or pill crusher to help you to cut or crush required medicines if necessary.
- Use stickers/reminders on medicines cabinet/box/container or on refrigerator as reminder to take the medicines.
![](https://myhealth23.primuscore.com/wp-content/uploads/kepatuhanUbat_1.jpg)
- Ask people close to you to help remind you to take the medicines.
- Learn about your medicines; why it is given to you, how it works, etc, from your pharmacist.
- Do not change the way you take the medicines without informing your Doctor/Pharmacist.
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Last Reviewed | : | 23 April 2014 |
Writer | : | Rosidah bt. Din |
Siti Nurul Fathihah bt. Baharudin | ||
Hazlin bt. Othman | ||
Accreditor | : | Dr. Nour Hanah bt. Othman |
Reviewer | : | Nor Aida bt. Sanusi |