[Review of Czech literature focused on terminology of medication adherence].

BACKGROUND

Medication taking terminology is often used incorrectly or inconsistently in the world literature and the meaning of the terms is interchanged. The aim of the work was to map the Czech literature and find out whether Czech authors use terminology related to medication adherence and whether they are consistent in defining it.

METHODS

Based on the methodological instructions for the translation of the so-called ABC Taxonomy introduced by International Society for Medication Adherence (ESPACOMP), a search of Czech literature published until September 22nd, 2021 in the databases ProLékaře.cz, BMČ, PubMed, and Solen was prepared. Morphological variants of keywords were used for the search: compliance, adherence, initiation, implementation, discontinuation, persistence, concordance.

RESULTS

A total of 125 Czech publications from 1998 to 2021 were identified, of which 79 defined specific terms. These included: adherence, persistence, compliance, concordance; the terms for compliance and adherence were interchanged in 14 publications. Publications focused on the treatment of specific diseases were the most common. Only five sources dealt with the issue of medication adherence as a theme without relation to a specific nosological unit.

CONCLUSION

Inconsistency in the use of terms related to medication adherence has proven to be a very common phenomenon in the Czech literature. It is, therefore, necessary to establish a consensus on this terminology in order to unify Czech literature.