Psychological aspects of non-compliance.

Research evidence reviewed suggests that psychological variables may be associated with non-compliance. Studies involving patients with epilepsy are limited but indicate that psychological reasons may underlie treatment non-adherence in this group. It seems likely that reasons for non-compliance are multifactorial with the contribution of various factors varying between patients and possibly varying for the same individual at different points in time. Further research is clearly indicated but recent research undertaken by the present author on memory illustrates that intervention may be possible to improve adherence to treatment regimens.