THE IMPACT OF PATIENT ADHERENCE ON HEALTH OUTCOMES FOR PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC DISEASE IN THE MEDICAL OUTCOMES STUDY

The association between adherence to medical recommendations and healt h outcomes (physical, role, and social functioning, energy/fatigue, pa in, emotional well-being, general health perceptions, diastolic blood pressure, and glycohemoglobin) was examined in a 4-year longitudinal, observational study of 2125 adult patients with chronic medical condit ions (hypertension, diabetes, recent myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure) and/or depression. Change score models were evaluated, controlling for disease and comorbidity. Patient adherence was associ ated minimally with improvement in health outcomes in this study. Only 11 of 132 comparisons showed statistically significant positive effec ts of adherence on health outcomes. We conclude that the relationship between adherence and health outcomes is much more complex than has of ten been assumed.