Increasingly recognized as a major medical health problem, non-compliant patient behavior remains one of the least understood and most frustrating phenomena facing today's physicians. Although no single characteristic of behavior adequately defines the potential non-complier, a variety of factors raises the index of physician suspicion. This paper examines four general categories affecting non-compliant behavior: patient factors, illness factors, therapeutic regimen factors, and physician-patient interaction factors. Based on these elements, a set of management implications is defined and discussed as possible deterrents to non-compliant behavior.
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