Study Objectives

The objectives of the Aston Medication Adherence Study were as follows:

To review published literature from national and international sources on how adherence can be measured in order to identify non-adherent patients and how adherence within patient groups can be improved
To establish the extent of non-adherence to prescribed medication within the adult population of HoBtPCT within four treatment groups i.e. dyslipidaemia, type 2 diabetes, hypothyroidism, prophylaxis of thrombosis

Treatment Group	Explanation
1. Dyslipidaemia	Abnormal levels of cholesterol or fat in their blood.
2. Type 2 diabetes	When not enough insulin is produced by their body for it to function properly, or when their body’s cells do not react to insulin.
3. Hypothyroidism	Having an underactive thyroid gland, a gland which is found in the neck. This gland produces hormones that are released into the bloodstream to control the body's growth and metabolism.
4. Prophylaxis of thrombosis	Medication to prevent thrombosis (this group will include patients that may have had a clot in the past or are at increased risk of clots and have been prescribed blood thinning agents such as warfarin).

To assess variations in levels of adherence, between and within different patient groups, arising for example from various factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, religion, etc, in HoBtPCT
To identify facilitators and barriers to adherence amongst various patient groups arising, for example, from complexity of the treatment course, patient’s knowledge of the condition, language difficulties etc, in HoBtPCT
To design a system for the routine identification of low adherence amongst patients in HoBtPCT
To suggest possible mechanisms for improving adherence to prescribed medication amongst patients in HoBtPCT

For explanations on the four conditions click here