A major ethical dilemma arises from the concept analysis
of adherence. If patients fully understand the consequences of
non-adherence, do healthcare professionals have the right to
make a judgement about their individual choices? After
40 years of studying compliance and adherence, with little
evidence to support interventional approaches to adherence,
perhaps now is the time to accept the occurrence of this as
part of human behaviour and to recognize that there is no
single solution or investigational approach to the related
issues. A meta-analysis of interventional studies into compliance
demonstrates the futility of generalizing any of the
results and it was not possible to identify which interventions
influences patient outcomes (Roter et al. 1998, Haynes et al.
2005). The WHO (2003) advocates research into adherence
that focuses on interventional studies addressing healthcare
system and healthcare professional factors