Compliance with cancer therapy by patients and physicians

Although compliance with treatment regimens has been shown to be a significant problem in many areas of medicine, there are little data quantitatively describing the extent of the compliance problem for cancer patients. Traditionally, compliance has been understood as the degree to which a patient's behavior coincides with the prescribed medical regimen. However, patient behavior may be only one of several factors that determine compliance; other important components may include physician behavior, the patient-physician relationship, and the patient's support system, including family. In this report, we review the literature on cancer compliance in terms of the patient, the physician, and patient-physician relationships. Subgroups of patients are identified as appropriate for compliance research, and methodologic considerations and research strategies are explored.