Methods of modifying compliance behavior in hypertensive patients.

The cardinal features of patient compliance, as conceptualized in this article, are that medication-taking is a behavior, the decision to comply is a dynamic process, and compliance is a highly individualistic phenomenon. This individualization may be determined in part by specific health-related factors and inherent individual traits influencing the decision to comply. Thus, the practitioner who wishes to respond to compliance must offer strategies that are behaviorally oriented, tailored to the individual patient, and continuously applied. It is evident that compliance behavior is very complex and multifaceted. It is unlikely that any single compliance-improving strategy will adequately address the problem in all patients. Instead, combinations of techniques offered continuously over the span of the therapy are more likely to be successful. Finally, the common element that appears to run through all of the compliance studies is the attention given study patients by health workers. It may be that regardless of the specific techniques used, increasing attention to the compliance issue will help keep it in the forefront during decision-making and improve compliance behavior.