During my residency, I encountered a lot of patients with non-adherence to medications, but the cases were very different. This became more clear as I took more time in clinic t inquire about causes of non-adherence. I have learned that a big portion of the cases can be easily influenced by listening to the patient and communication. I remember a few cases where I was able to make a difference this way. I had a patient who was not taking metformin because she thought it was causing LE edema. So when I found out, I told her that this was not a typical SE of metformin, and was most likely caused by amlodipine, which I stopped.After that, she became adherent to metformin. Another case of non-adherence that I recall was a patient who did not take a medication because it was difficult to coordinate it with her work hours, so I was able to make adjustments to the timing, and improve adherence. These are some examples were inquiry and communication solved the problem, but There are a lot of cases where I still feel that the factors causing non-adherence, like inability to afford the medication, or lack of transport to pick it from the pharmacy, are difficult to control, and I am hoping to acquire the skills and resources to be able to help in this subset of patients.
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