Non-Compliance to Doctors’ Advices among Patients Suffering from Various Diseases: Patients’ Perspectives: A Neglected Issue

Authors

  • Khalida Naz Memon Assoc. Professor, Dept. of Community Medicine, Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences Jamshoro
  • Nudrat Zeba Shaikh Asst. Professor, Dept. of Community Medicine, Isra University, Hyderabad
  • Rafique Ahmed Soomro Professor, Dept. of Community Medicine, Liquat National Hospital and Medical College
  • Shazia Rehman Shaikh Asst. Professor, Dept. of Community Medicine, Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences Jamshoro
  • Anza Mansoor Khwaja Basic Sciences (MBBS) Student, Isra University, Hyderabad

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3329/jom.v18i1.31170

Keywords:

Non-compliance, compliance, doctors’ advice, patients’ perspective

Abstract

Background: An acknowledgement of the patients perspectives about compliance towards doctors advices is critical in ensuring better results of medical consultation. The compliance to therapies is a primary determinant of treatment success.The authors found a serious dearth of research on this issue.

Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the frequency & determinants of non-compliance towards doctors advices among study subjects.

Method: The current community based descriptive cross sectional study was conducted on 230 subjects suffering from various illnesses. The patients were enrolled using convenience sampling. The data was collected on pre-structured Performa. The data comprises of questions regarding Patients compliance to doctor advises, that may be preventive, promotive and therapeutic care.

Results: The mean age of respondents was 36.6 ± 7.4 years. The overall compliance to doctors advice was seen among 31.2% subjects. Compliance to treatment advice was 35.8 %; while towards health promotive advices was 29.5% & towards preventive advices against diseases was 28.4 percent.Seventy three percent of the total compliance was seento general practitionersin contrast to consultants i.e. 26.4%.Significant association was seen between compliance & older age (p=0.02), non-infectious diseases (p=0.04), severity of disease (p=0.01), oral route of administration (p=0.00) & shorter duration of disease (p=0.00). The results of association of compliance with gender however remained statistically insignificant.

Conclusion: The study indicated that non-compliance towards doctors advices is a big public health issue & it should be taken as a hidden risk factor for diseases. The compliance towardsdoctorsadvice was more prevalent for non-communicable diseases compared to communicable diseases. Additionally, fear of side effects and high cost of medicine were two major reasons for treatment non-compliance.

J MEDICINE January 2017; 18 (1) : 10-14

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Abstract
74
PDF
55

Author Biography

Khalida Naz Memon, Assoc. Professor, Dept. of Community Medicine, Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences Jamshoro



Downloads

Published

2017-01-17

How to Cite

Memon, K. N., Shaikh, N. Z., Soomro, R. A., Shaikh, S. R., & Khwaja, A. M. (2017). Non-Compliance to Doctors’ Advices among Patients Suffering from Various Diseases: Patients’ Perspectives: A Neglected Issue. Journal of Medicine, 18(1), 10–14. https://doi.org/10.3329/jom.v18i1.31170

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 1 (2017)

Section

Original Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

    1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

    1. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

  1. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).