PATIENTS IDEAS ABOUT MEDICINES - A QUALITATIVE STUDY IN A GENERAL-PRACTICE POPULATION

Background. Little attention has been paid to patients' ideas about me dicines and such ideas might well have relevance for understanding non -adherence to medication. Aim. This qualitative study set out to descr ibe the ideas about medicines and the self-reported adherence to medic ation of a general practice population. Method. Semistructured intervi ews were conducted with 30 adult patients (attenders and non-attenders ) from two general practices. Results. The main themes emerging from t he analysis were: perceived properties of medicines; orientation towar ds medicines, that is, patients' general preference for faking or not taking medication; and actual usage of medicines. The data revealed th at on the one hand much medicine taking was taken for granted and on t he other hand that patients had many fears and powerful negative image s of medicines. Conclusion. Any assessment of the appropriateness of a proposed treatment for an individual patient should include an explor ation of his or her preferences, orientation towards medicines and soc ial context.