Behavior-changing methods for improving adherence to medication.

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Pharmacology
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Poor long-term adherence to antihypertensive medications is a significant clinical challenge.
• New strategies are needed to predict and enhance adherence to drug regimens for hypertension management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review behavior change literature and present a new perspective on medication adherence.
• To explore the application of behavior change principles to improve antihypertensive drug therapy adherence.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of behavior change principles and interventions.
• Examination of stage-of-change models applied to medication adherence.
• Discussion of tailored interventions based on patient's stage of change.

Main Results:

• Adherence to long-term medication regimens necessitates behavior change.
• Behavior change principles can accelerate the adoption of medication-taking behavior.
• Interventions effective in other health behaviors can be adapted for medication adherence.

Conclusions:

• Tailored behavior-changing interventions, matched to a patient's stage of change, are effective.
• Early stages require consciousness-raising; later stages benefit from rewards, monitoring, and reminders.
• Reliable methods to measure stage of change provide a foundation for applying behavior change principles to hypertension pharmacologic management.