OBJECTIVES: Inadequate adherence to medication can lead to deterioration of a patient’s health and to increased costs for the healthcare system. Aim of the present analysis is to investigate the factors that are associated with adherence to chronic medication in Greece.

METHODS: Primary data were extracted from the “Health and Welfare” health interview survey and refer to 2017. The sample was representative of the Greek population and consisted of 730 adults who were under chronic medication (>6 months). For the statistical analysis, a binary logistic regression model was constructed, where the dependent variable was adherence to medication, based on the Morisky adherence scale converted to a binary variable i.e high vs medium/low adherence, while independent variables were gender, age, urbanization of residency, self-rated health status, educational level, smoking status, existence of public health insurance and perceived responsiveness of primary healthcare (as defined by WHO).

RESULTS: Overall, 52.7% of the sample had high adherence and 47.3% medium/low adherence. Statistical significance was found for the following variables: age (p-value=0.016), urbanization (p-value=0.024), self-rated health status (p-value=0.049) and responsiveness of primary healthcare (p-value=0.014). Specifically, respondents residing in rural areas (OR=1.578) and those of higher self-rated health status (OR=1.009) were more likely to have medium/low adherence. On the other hand, age (OR=0.985) and perceived responsiveness of primary healthcare (OR=0.771) were negatively associated with medium/low adherence and hence, as age and perceived responsiveness of primary healthcare increased, the probability to have medium/low adherence decreased.

CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results, adherence to medication is associated with a number of factors. Since adherence of chronic patients is crucial for their overall health and for the healthcare system, it is important for health professionals to have in mind these factors in order to apply interventions that aim to increase adherence in specific groups of the population.