Treatment adherence: reporting guidelines and the showcase of heart transplantation (prevalence & practice patterns)

Adherence to long-term therapies, defined as the extent to which a person’s behavior corresponds with agreed recommendations from a health care provider, is essential for achieving better outcomes on individual and societal levels. However, the problem of treatment non-adherence is widespread. Poor adherence or non-adherence is associated with worse patient and societal outcomes. Heart transplant recipients represent a particularly susceptible patient population that follows a complex therapeutic regimen and is likely to become non-adherent.
The aims of this dissertation are:
1. To develop guidelines for reporting medication adherence research
2. To assess and compare the prevalence of medication non-adherence to immunosuppressants and co-medications in heart transplant recipients
3. To describe the international practice patterns with regard to medication adherence assessment methods and intervention strategies across the transplantation continuum at heart transplant centers
4. To assess the international prevalence and variability in non-adherence to six components of the post-transplant non-pharmacologic treatment