Medication adherence, self-monitoring and patient factors in prescribing
How to measure and improve adherence, what patient self-monitoring (home BP, glucose and CGM, INR, weight, peak flow, sick day rules) adds, the patient factors that change a prescription, and the Australian supports (HMR, dose administration aids, 60-day dispensing, Closing the Gap PBS co-payment, Section 100 remote supply).
Tier 2Topic overview
Written with AI assistance and fact-checked against the sources below. For exam study, not clinical decisions. How notes are made
At a glance
- Adherence is the extent to which a patient's medicine-taking matches the plan agreed with the prescriber (WHO 2003). In chronic disease it averages about 50%.
- It has three phases: initiation, implementation and persistence (Vrijens 2012). Most loss is in persistence.
- No measure is perfect. Combine an open, non-judgemental question with dispensing data and, where available, a drug level or physiological marker.
Loading the rest of the note…
Finished reading?
Sources
- Adherence to long-term therapies: evidence for actionWorld Health Organization, 2003
- Vrijens B et al. A new taxonomy for describing and defining adherence to medications. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2012;73:691-705British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 2012
- National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards, 2nd edition: Medication Safety StandardAU/NZAustralian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2021
- PBS explanatory notes: patient co-payments and safety net thresholds (National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Act 2025: general co-payment $25 from 1 January 2026)AU/NZAustralian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, 2026
- Closing the Gap PBS Co-payment ProgramAU/NZAustralian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, 2026
- FitzGerald JD et al. 2020 American College of Rheumatology Guideline for the Management of Gout. Arthritis Care Res 2020;72:744-60American College of Rheumatology, 2020
- McManus RJ et al. Efficacy of self-monitored blood pressure, with or without telemonitoring, for titration of antihypertensive medication (TASMINH4). Lancet 2018;391:949-59The Lancet, 2018
- Heneghan C et al. Self-monitoring of oral anticoagulation: systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data. Lancet 2012;379:322-34The Lancet, 2012
- Horne R et al. Understanding patients' adherence-related beliefs about medicines prescribed for long-term conditions: a meta-analytic review of the Necessity-Concerns Framework. PLoS One 2013;8:e80633PLoS One, 2013
- Last updated
- 14 November 2026
What changed
- 14 November 2026 Turnstile bot check on sign-in and signed-out feedback