Medication Adherence Assessed with Real-World Data: New Opportunities Provided by Big Data

Dear Colleagues,

Medication adherence is the prerequisite for effective pharmacotherapy. Therefore, multiple interventions have been designed to improve it, addressing its major components of initiation, implementation, and discontinuation. Despite this, non-adherence remains a worldwide problem, which undermines the effectiveness of evidence-based therapies and jeopardizes the sustainability of healthcare systems. The rapid aging of the global population leads to a rise in the prevalence of multimorbidity and further aggravates this problem.

New opportunities to tackle this issue come with the availability of big data. Electronic health records, prescribing and dispensing databases, health insurance systems, and national health system records create an unprecedented opportunity to study medication adherence in millions of patients and/or in a longitudinal way. Identifying the major drivers of medication adherence and comparing the effectiveness of adherence interventions in real-world settings are just a couple of benefits of using large medical data repositories for adherence research.

This Special Issue aims to advance our understanding of medication adherence with the potential broader use of big data. A wide range of studies adopting this approach are welcome: from viewpoints describing new concepts and studies setting new standards, through pharmacoepidemiological studies in a regional, national, or international context, to pharmacoeconomical analyses.

Prof. Dr. Przemysław Kardas
Guest Editor

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