The Language of Medication-Taking

Medical Writings: Lingua Medica6 June 2000The Language of Medication-TakingJohn F. Steiner, MD, MPH and Mark A. Earnest, MDJohn F. Steiner, MD, MPHDrs. Steiner and Earnest: University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; Denver, CO 80262 and Mark A. Earnest, MDDrs. Steiner and Earnest: University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; Denver, CO 80262Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-132-11-200006060-00026 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Over the past 50 years, periods of intensive clinical and research interest in medication-taking have coincided with breakthroughs in drug development, such as antibiotics for infectious diseases in the 1950s (1-3), medications for hypertension in the 1960s and 1970s (4, 5), and highly active antiretroviral therapy for HIV infection in the 1990s (6-10). Hundreds of studies have found that only 50% to 60% of patients consume their medications for chronic diseases as prescribed (5), yet intensive, multimodal interventions often only marginally improve medication-taking or therapeutic outcomes (11, 12). Because medication-taking remains a clinically important problem despite 50 years of study, ...References1. Dixon WM, Stradling P, Wootton ID. Outpatient PAS therapy. Lancet. 1957;2:871-2. CrossrefGoogle Scholar2. Pitman ER, Benzier EE, Katz M. Clinic experience with a urine PAS test. Diseases of the Chest. 1959;36:1-2. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Markowitz M. Eradication of rheumatic fever: an unfulfilled hope. Circulation. 1970;41:1077-84. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Sackett DL, Haynes RB, Gibson ES, Hackett BC, Taylor DW, Roberts RS, et al . Randomised clinical trial of strategies for improving medication compliance in primary hypertension. Lancet. 1975;1:1205-7. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Sackett DL, Snow JC. 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Steiner, MD, MPH, Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Box B-180, 4200 East Ninth Avenue, Denver, CO 80262.Current Author Addresses: Drs. Steiner and Earnest: Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Box B-180, 4200 East Ninth Avenue, Denver, CO 80262. 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Platt, MD, David L. Gaspar, MD, John L. Coulehan, MD, MPH, Lucy Fox, MD, Andrew J. Adler, MD, W. Wayne Weston, MD, Robert C. Smith, MD, and Moira Stewart, PhD 6 June 2000Volume 132, Issue 11Page: 926-930KeywordsBehaviorBlood pressureCoffeeDrugsHIV infectionsHypertensionMotivationQualitative studiesRandomized trialsSafety ePublished: 15 August 2000 Issue Published: 6 June 2000 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2000 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...