Okuzeka
Medicine vocabulary · Prescriptions and Medication

Adherence

Meaning in medicine, with examples

/ədˈhɪrəns/nounCommon term

In medicine, adherence means: How closely a patient takes their medicines or follows a treatment plan in the way they agreed with their doctor.

In Turkish: tedavi uyumu, ilaç uyumu

How it is used

Doctors ask about adherence without judging: 'Some people find it hard to take tablets every day. How about you?'. Poor adherence is a common reason why a treatment seems to fail. 'Compliance' is an older word that sounds more like obeying orders.

Example sentences

  1. His blood pressure is high, but his adherence to the tablets has been poor.

  2. A weekly pill organiser can improve adherence in older patients.

Common collocations

  • medication adherence
  • poor adherence
  • improve adherence
  • adherence to treatment
  • medicationA substance used to treat, prevent or relieve the symptoms of a disease; also the whole set of drugs a patient takes.
  • prescriptionA doctor's written or electronic instruction saying which medicine a patient should get, how much, how often and for how long.
  • follow-upA later appointment or check to see how a patient is doing after treatment, a test result or a hospital stay.
  • drug historyThe part of the history that lists every medicine a patient takes, including over-the-counter and herbal products, plus any drug allergies.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Prescriptions and Medication

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level:

This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.