Non-compliance with antibiotic therapy for acute community infections: a global survey

A global patient survey of non-compliance with antibiotic therapy for acute community infections included 4514 adult respondents (aged 18–99 years) in 11 countries. Admitted non-compliance (ANC) was reported in 912/4088 (22.3%) of cases but varied widely between countries. Multivariate analysis identified five independent variables associated with ANC: country, daily dosage regimen, age, attitudes to doctors and attitudes to antibiotics. ANC ranged from 44.0% in China to 9.9% in The Netherlands, and from 14.9% in those prescribed once-daily regimens to 27.0% for three or more daily doses. There was a negative correlation between ANC and age. Analysis of the attitudes to doctors confirmed previous findings that involving the patient in the management of their infection can improve overall compliance. The study identified seven key attitudes to antibiotic use with the potential to improve compliance. However, there was a poor understanding in 10 of the 11 countries of how non-compliance can increase the potential for resistance development. Segmentation and cluster analysis identified four psychographic profiles influencing compliant behaviour, which varied across countries. The global picture of antibiotic non-compliance and psychographic profiling should help identify areas for targeted, country-specific patient educational programmes as well as those areas where physicians can improve their interaction with their patients.