Dr Paul Ciechanowski Discusses Medication Adherence Among Patients With Chronic Conditions

There are a number of things that Paul Ciechanowski, MD, MPH, associate professor at the University of Washington, believes play a role in medication nonadherence among patients with diabetes, such as patient engagement in their care.

A better ability to track patients with chronic conditions more closely has provided more data points, which has given greater insight into why medication adherence can be so poor among these patients, explained Paul Ciechanowski, MD, MPH, associate professor at the University of Washington.

They have found that one issue can be that many people just do not understand why they are taking a medication. He added that many of the problems associated medication adherence are rooted in patient motivation, self-management, and behavioral changes.

“Whatever it is, medication adherence is just one of those things that people have to do,” Dr Ciechanowski says. “And so the sooner we can start to think of it as behavior change, then we can start to [see the importance in that change.]”