A social cognitive theory-based framework for monitoring medication adherence applied to endocrine therapy in breast cancer survivors

摘要

Poor adherence to long-term therapies for chronic diseases, such as cancer, compromises effectiveness of treatment and increases the likelihood of disease progression, making medication adherence a critical issue in population health. While the field has documented many barriers to adherence to medication, it has also come up with few efficacious solutions to medication adherence, indicating that new and innovative approaches are needed. In this paper, we evaluate medication-taking behaviors based on social cognitive theory (SCT), presenting patterns of adherence stratified across SCT constructs in 33 breast cancer survivors over an 8-month period. Findings indicate that medication adherence is a very personal experience influenced by many simultaneously interacting factors, and a deeper contextual understanding is needed to understand and develop interventions targeting non-adherence.