Adherence to recommended medical regimens in childhood and adolescence.

OBJECTIVE

Factors that appear to influence treatment adherence among adults have been the focus of considerable research in recent years. However, less research has focused on children's treatment adherence. This paper reviews current knowledge about factors that appear to influence adherence among children and adolescents.

METHODOLOGY

Factors associated with adherence to medical regimens reviewed here include: (i) the psychosocial characteristics of children and their parents; (ii) the nature of the treatment regimen; and (iii) the relationship between health practitioners, parents and paediatric patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Issues for future research include: (i) the adherence of both children and their parents to children's treatment, and the allocation of responsibility for treatment adherence; (ii) the wide range of behaviours involved in regimen adherence should be acknowledge; patients' adherence to one aspect of their regimen should not be considered indicative of their overall adherence; and (iii) longitudinal studies are required to examine the causal relations between patient adherence and its antecedents.