Diagnosis and Management of Patient Noncompliance

Patient noncompliance with medical regimens is one of the major unsolved therapeutic problems confronting the medical profession today. Physicians have great difficulty identifying and dealing with noncompliers. A critical review of the literature has disclosed that the factors most consistently related to noncompliance are (1) psychological factors, (2) environmental and social factors, (3) characteristics of the therapeutic regimen, and (4) properties of the physician-patient interaction. Based on this information, a strategy for the improved diagnosis and management of noncompliance is feasible. (JAMA228:1563-1567, 1974)