Table 2.
Overview of MARS-5 scores and its individual items
| MARS questions | Mean ± SD |
Always = 1, n (%) |
Often = 2, n (%) |
Sometimes = 3, n (%) |
Rarely = 4, n (%) |
Never = 5, n (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item 1: “I forget to take my medicines” | 4.49 ± 0.72 | 1 (0.2) | 5 (1.2) | 34 (8.1) | 129 (30.7) | 251 (59.8) |
| Item 2: “I alter the dose of my medicines” | 4.82 ± 0.55 | 3 (0.7) | 0 (0) | 13 (3.1) | 38 (9.0) | 366 (87.1) |
| Item 3: “I stop taking my medicines for a while” | 4.89 ± 0.42 | 1 (0.2) | 1 (0.2) | 7 (1.7) | 27 (6.4) | 384 (91.4) |
| Item 4: “I decide to skip a dose” | 4.90 ± 0.38 | 1 (0.2) | 0 (0) | 6 (1.4) | 26 (6.2) | 387 (92.1) |
| Item 5: “I take less than instructed” | 4.84 ± 0.53 | 2 (0.5) | 2 (0.5) | 12 (2.9) | 28 (6.7) | 376 (89.5) |
MARS Medication Adherence Report Scale, SD Standard Deviation