OBJECTIVES:  The aim of the study was to translate and validate a Romanian version of the original English edition of the 19^th Compliance Questionnaire for Rheumatology (CQR-19) and use it for Romanian patients with rheumatic diseases. METHODS: The questionnaire was translated into Romanian by two translators, native speakers of Romanian, familiar with the medical aspects and each translated item was pilot-tested to 10 patients with rheumatic diseases in several community pharmacies in Craiova, Romania. After identifying and resolving the problems in translation, CQR-19 was applied to a sample of 100 patients with rheumatic diseases, with 50 patients completing them again after 3 weeks. Reliability, validity and responsiveness were evaluated. Test-retest reliability was tested by Cronbach’s alpha and Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC). The 4-point Likert scale was used to calculate the adherence for each patient. We used SPSS v.19.0 in order to examine the characteristics of the sample and of the questionnaire. Correlations were conducted to evaluate the possible associations between various sociodemographic factors and medication adherence. RESULTS: The mean age of the sample was 52.4 years (SD=17.88 years), 46% were male, 88% living in urban, 8% had finished high school, 62% had graduated a faculty, 45% were employed. The mean score for the medication adherence was 61.99 (95%CI, 58.41-65.57). The Romanian version was easily understood by the patients and had good levels of reliability (Scale’s reliability analysis revealed a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.76) and consistency (ICC=0.88). It was found that age was related to adherence score (r_s=0.48, p<0.05), indicating that older people were more likely to adhere to antirheumatic medication. Gender, living place, level of education and job didn’t influence adherence’s level. CONCLUSIONS:  The Romanian version of the CQR-19 is a reliable and valid measure to evaluate the adherence for patients with rheumatoid arthritis.