Adherence

Compliance (in healthcare)

The extent to which a patient's behaviour matches the prescriber's advice, which implies passive obedience.

Adherence (in healthcare)

The extent to which a patient's behaviour matches agreed recommendations from a healthcare provider, respecting patient choice without assigning blame for non-adherence (Sabaté, 2003).

Concordance

A therapeutic agreement established through shared decision-making that incorporates the patient's beliefs, preferences, and values into the treatment plan.

Social factors affecting adherence

Socioeconomic variables that influence treatment following, specifically low educational attainment, unemployment, and inadequate social support (Sabaté, 2003).

Psychological factors affecting adherence

Cognitive and emotional variables impacting medical adherence, such as anxiety, depression, denial-based coping mechanisms, and specific beliefs about medication.

Treatment-related barriers to adherence

Biological and therapeutic obstacles, including complicated dosing regimens, adverse side effects, and lack of immediate or obvious symptom improvement.

Health Belief Model (HBM) explanation of adherence

A model proposing that adherence behaviour depends on an individual's evaluation of perceived costs versus perceived benefits of following medical advice.

Illness representations and adherence

A cognitive framework stating that viewing an illness as acute or self-limiting causes premature cessation of treatment, whereas beliefs about chronicity promote long-term medication use.

Nudge Theory

A behavioural change concept that employs both mindful (conscious) and mindless (automatic) prompts to guide individuals toward healthier decisions without restricting their options.

Health Action Process Approach (HAPA)

A health psychology model emphasizing self-efficacy and the formation of a concrete action plan to translate intentions into actual health behaviour.

Nuffield Intervention Ladder

A public policy framework outlining progressively intrusive steps to influence behaviour, ranging from doing nothing or providing information to restricting and eliminating choice.

Cross-sectional study

An observational research design that analyzes data collected from a population at a single specific point in time.

Longitudinal study

A research design that gathers repeated measures and observations from the same subjects over an extended period of time.

Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT)

An experimental study design where participants are randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group, providing the strongest evidence for causality.

Meta-analysis

A quantitative statistical methodology that synthesizes findings from multiple independent randomized controlled trials to establish the highest level of empirical evidence.