Requestion of compliance or non-compliance is an aspect of patient management which is as old as medicine itself. However, it was long neglected and it is only over the past 15 years that factors having an influence on this important phenomenon have been studied more closely--mostly from the therapist's point of view. The present paper suggests a more comprehensive idea of "compliance". Stress is laid on the importance of communication and cooperation between doctor and patient, because these factors play a major role in the doctor-patient relationship.