Abstract
Adherence to treatment has recently been repeatedly mentioned as a prerequisite for treatment success. Ways to increase adherence include motivation and proper education of patients about the necessity to comply with the recommended therapeutic regimen and making them acquainted with the consequences of non-adherent behaviour.
Rationalization of pharmacotherapy and simplification of therapeutic regimens have become essential in strategies to increase adherence. Another option is represented by new drug dosage forms that increase bioavailability of drugs, reduce variability in absorption, and thus allow achievement of more stable drug levels.
While preserving the biological effect, a smaller amount of the active substance can be used, the rates and odds of adverse drug events are reduced, and adherence improves. Certain new drug dosage forms make the treatment more simple and, possibly, even more attractive to patients.
Recent advances include, among other things, orodispersible dosage forms, now also being introduced in the treatment of arterial hypertension. None of the above methods is universal and, in order to maximize adherence of patients to treatment, all available means tailored to the individual needs of patients will have to be utilized.