The Relationship between Health Status Perceptions and Compliance with Chronic Drug Therapy - Market Research as a Pilot Study (and Beyond)

This paper summarises the design, analysis and results of an international study to improve knowledge of the reasons for non-compliance with drug therapy for a largely asymptomatic chronic disease. Market research methods were chosen in order to assess the viability and value of investing in a more expensive and time-consuming definitive longitudinal clinical study. It also leads to important conclusions in its own right. After a programme of qualitative research (focus groups and individual depth interviews) followed by quantitative research we show results that could, in themselves, lead to action and demonstrate that investment in a longitudinal clinical investigation could lead to action with benefits for public health as well as the pharmaceutical industry.