Several scientific societies warn of the increase in patients who do not comply with their medication and omit information from the doctor, especially younger ones, because they believe they are at lower risk, calling for greater focus on literacy.
According to a study carried out in partnership with the Brazilian Society of Hypertension ), Brazilian Atherosclerosis Society () and Brazilian Society of Cardiology (), between others, one in three patients who fail to take their medication do not tell their doctor because they do not think it is relevant (57%).
“I thought that, often, people didn’t say it out of fear that there would be a reprimand, deep down, in that still ancient role of the doctor who supervises. But that’s not the only fact”, the president of SPA, Francisco Araújo, told Lusa, adding: “These are diseases that usually have no symptoms (…) and are so prevalent that it’s almost as if they were normal”.
Warned about false normality, warning that diseases such as atherosclerosis or hypertension “are risk factors for cardiovascular disease” and, as this is a process that lasts many years, in younger people it leads them to think they have a lower risk than they actually do.
Study results
According to data from the study “Adherence to Therapy in Chronic Disease – The View of Patients”, prepared in connection with Adherence Day, which is celebrated on the 27th, the main cause cited for non-compliance with medication is:
- absence of symptoms (33.2%),
- followed by the “perceived severity” of the disease (17.2%),
- and dosage (15.8%)
Lack of knowledge
Almost half of the patients interviewed (46.4%) do not have the knowledge or skills necessary to understand and apply the information they need to manage their disease in their daily lives. Furthermore, more than one in five respondents consider health news and communication in the media to be difficult or very difficult to understand.
The president of SPA highlighted the importance of literacy and literacyexemplifying: “It’s like a stool, with several legs — the role of the doctor, the medication and also that of the patient. When one of them fails, everything falls apart.”
He said that the stage where the most health gains are made in terms of literacy is in children and highlighted the importance of literacy to “shape young people’s behavior” regarding the risk factors of chronic diseases, recognizing that it is like “a long-distance race”.
“We are not treating hypertension or dyslipidemia very often to reduce the risk immediately. (..) We are thinking about when the person reaches 60 or 70 years old, which is the age at which parents often have also had complications”, he stated.
Importance of silent diseases
Hypertension and atherosclerosis are the most prevalent cardiovascular diseasesaccording to the study, which also shows that a high percentage of these patients are taking medication: 91.2% (hypertension) and 73.1% (atherosclerosis). However, among those who do not comply with their medication, around seven in 10 say they have no fear that their disease will get out of control or worsen.
“Because they are silent diseases, many patients end up underestimating a risk that accumulates over time”say the authors of the study, which interviewed 600 patients from different regions of the country, aged 35 to 75 or more, 25.5% with two chronic diseases and more than 12% with three or more.
Adherence to therapy is widely valued by patients (59.7% are highly aware), but this appreciation does not always translate into daily life, as around 40% do not take their medication as recommended by their doctor.
In relation to data from the study carried out along the same lines in the previous year, the percentage of patients who do not use medication because they “feel good” increased. (32.9% compared to 21.9%), as well as the percentage of patients without regular medical follow-up (20.5% compared to 14.1%).
In Portugal, World Accession Day and the activities linked to this event also have the support of the National Pharmacy Association, the Portuguese Association of General and Family Medicine, Portugal AVC, the Portuguese Society of Cerebral Vascular Accident, the Portuguese Society of Health Literacy, the Portuguese Society of Internal Medicine and Servier Portugal.
