Objective. To compare pharmacy students' perceptions with patients' reasons for medication non-adherence. Methods. Pharmacy students completing an experiential rotation recruited patients exhibiting medication non-adherence from community pharmacies and asked them to respond to statements about reasons for their medication non-adherence. Patient responses were ranked in order of prevalence and compared to self-reported student perceptions on reasons for non-adherence. Results. There was a significant difference between patients' and students' rankings of reasons for medication non-adherence. Significant factors for patients included medications that interfere with lifestyle, sexual health and drinking alcohol; whereas, students believed that cognitive-related issues were patients' primary reasons for non-adherence to their medications. Conclusion. Educational opportunities to reflect on and discuss differing perspectives should be provided in the pharmacy curriculum to better equip students to address medication adherence issues and improve patient care.
Keywords: medication adherence; medication compliance; medication persistence; pharmacy education.