Table 1.

Type of reported non-compliance

Type of non-compliance	Reference
Receiving a prescription but not filling it	Donovan and Blake 1992
Taking an incorrect dose
Taking medication at the wrong times
Increasing or decreasing the frequency of doses
Stopping the treatment too soon
Delaying in seeking healthcare	Vermeire et al 2001
Non-participation in clinic visits
Failure to follow doctor’s instructions	Gordis 1979
“Drug holidays”, which means the patient stops the therapy for a while and then restarts the therapy	Cummings et al 1982;Vermeire 2001
“White-coat compliance”, which means patients are compliant to the medication regimen around the time of clinic appointments	Cramer et al 1990; Feinstein 1990; Vermeire 2001; Burnier et al 2003