'The lesser of two evils…' - views of persons with rheumatoid arthritis on medication adherence: a qualitative study.

Objective: This study aimed to explore medication adherence among adherent and non-adherent persons suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A special focus was put on the reasons accounting for successful medication adherence and on potential barriers or facilitating factors.Design: A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews was conducted. Eighteen participants were recruited through stratified purposive sampling according to their medication adherence level. Interviews were analysed by interpretative phenomenological analysis.Results: Medication adherence behaviour was described on a continuum ranging from non-adherent to adherent. Participants’ current adherence level was represented as a result of inner negotiations between a variety of influential factors and the successful application of a range of strategies. The influential factors were: experiences with medication, outcome expectations, knowledge of therapeutic options, the traits ‘openness’ and ‘conscientiousness’, belief in medical pr...