Different aspects of adherence to antihypertensive treatments

This review collects together data concerning the measurement of patient behavior towards antihypertensives, considering all its aspects - adherence, persistence and switching. The wide heterogeneity of terms, outcome definitions and methods of assessment (the multiplicity of approaches did not allow a full meta-analysis, but a qualitative description of the results) are demonstrated. The percentages of adherence/compliance from the studies discussed in this review range from 15 to 99% across different study designs, populations and methods. Large, observational studies are suggested as a reliable method to measure patient behavior. An emerging issue is the relevance of patient motivation and education, which could provide a higher level of compliance to treatment, thus allowing achievement of better clinical outcomes and improved use of resources for the healthcare system.