A questionairre based study evaluating current medication adherence monitoring practice in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Introduction: Despite the high prevalence rates and negative impact of low medication adherence among patients, there is a paucity of information on current practices of clinicians in an Indian setting to monitor medication adherence. Aim: The core aim of our study was to understand current clinical practice and perceptions about medication adherence monitoring. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional questionnaire based study. The questionnaire was distributed to 100 actively practicing clinicians across different levels at our tertiary care teaching Hospital. The questionnaire was structured to address the core objectives through 5 core questions and 10 sub questions related to medication adherence monitoring practice. Three questions were asked regarding their perceptions of medication adherence monitoring. Modified Likert scales were used to evaluate responses. Descriptive statistics like mean, standard deviation, frequencies and percentages were used to analyze data. Statistical tests like t-test and Chi2 tests were used to examine group differences. Statistical significance was set at p Results: Sixty-two (62%) participants routinely monitor all patients for medication adherence. Most participants recognized themselves as responsible for medication adherence monitoring (79%). On a scale of 1 to 10, participants rated their adherence monitoring practices as an average of 7.01. The strategy most commonly classified as used “all the time” was asking patient about taking medications regularly (72%). The strategies most commonly classified as “not at all” used were using electronic monitoring (73%) and monitoring blood levels of the drug to assess adherence (59%). These strategies were also rated the least effective. The strategies most commonly classified as “largely” effective included asking patients about problems or difficulties taking prescribed medications (55%). Most clinicians believe other ancillary health care providers should be i