Abstract:

Medication adherence is an important factor in treatment effect and relapse of patients with depression, but many studies have found that patients’ adherence to antidepressants is relatively low. Medication adherence is related to the concept of compliance, adherence and concordance. Contributing factors to antidepressants adherence include disease and treatment factors, physician-related factors, patient-related factors, and cultural and environmental factors. The main interventions address both doctors’ and patients’ sides. The assessments include both subjective and objective methods. The main research trends were introduced. Furthermore, we proposed future directions for this field of study: a) developing measures of antidepressants adherence; b) localizing research and focusing on socio-cultural factors; c) increasing research in comorbidity’ influence on antidepressants adherence; d) developing individualized interventions; and e) increasing multidiscipline research between psychology and the field of antidepressants adherence.

Key words: depression, antidepressants adherence, adherence attitude