Compliance in the treatment of hypertension. A need for action.

Compliance is commonly defined as the extent to which a person's behavior coincides with medical or health advice. There is evidence that noncompliance is a common problem with many medications, including antihypertensive treatment. Since noncompliance can have serious adverse effects on patient health it is important that practitioners make use of available strategies for increasing compliance. This paper considers aspects of the literature concerning noncompliance with antihypertensive medications and presents a number of strategies that practitioners can use to increase compliance. These include strategies for increasing patient recall of information and for implementing reminder systems. There is some evidence that eliciting social support can aid compliance as can presenting information about side effects. The importance of prescribing the simplest possible dosage regimen is emphasized.