Objective:
The objective of this review was to identify the practice, education
and research of pharmacists in Sweden in regard to adherence to
treatment.
Methods: Medline was searched up to the end of February 2008.
In addition to the Medline search performed, other available sources
were also used to identify relevant articles.
Results: No adherence-specific programs have been implemented
in Swedish pharmacies. No adherence-specific courses are provided
in Swedish Universities educating pharmacists. The adherence-related
research has so far mainly focused on refill non-adherence, primary
non-adherence and patient reported non-adherence and readiness
to treatment.
Conclusions: Adherence-related practice and education of pharmacists
will probably change due to the deregulation of the pharmacy market
that will take place in the near future in Sweden. Research on
adherence will need to be strengthened in the sense that it has
so far not been guided by adherence-related theoretical frameworks,
despite the fact that there are several theories to hand that
try to explain adherence.
