ArticlePloS one2025
What constitutes 'poor' adherence to medical advice for chronic diseases? Insights from a qualitative study among hypertension and diabetes patients in urban informal settlements, Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Revolutionising healthcare access: student-led clinics as catalysts for change in an underserved urban community in Karachi, Pakistan.Journal of global health · 2026Article
- Development and Psychometric Evaluation of a Novel Medication Adherence Scale for Patients with Chronic Diseases in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.Patient preference and adherence · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe problem of poor adherence to medical advice in the case of non-communicable diseases, the reasons thereof, and how these are exacerbated in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is well-recognized. However, there is less conceptual clarity on what 'poor' adherence encompasses in these settings. Conventional classifications treat poor adherence as a singular category, often disregarding its multifaceted nature. This study aimed to explore the nuances of what constitutes 'poor' adherence to medical advice for chronic diseases in vulnerable LMIC settings. This was done by examining the different ways in which hypertension and diabetes patients living in urban informal settlements in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region attempted to adhere to medical advice.
methodsThis is a qualitative study using a grounded analysis approach. The study was part of larger research conducted to understand care-seeking for hypertension and diabetes in urban informal settlements. Purposive sampling was used to identify participants. Data was collected from September to November 2022 through in-depth interviews with 26 hypertension and diabetes patients. Emerging patterns of adherence were inductively coded and categorized using grounded analysis.
findingsThe study highlights multiple ways in which patients attempted to adhere to medical advice. By tracing patient journeys and experiences in adherence, the study categorizes 'poor' adherence to medical advice as adherence to medication, lifestyle changes and follow-ups with various sub-categories within each. Most patients reported more than one way in which they tried to adhere to medical advice. Patients adhered well to some aspects of their medical advice and not to others, highlighting the complexities in understanding this concept.
conclusionsBy understanding the nuances and complexities of 'poor' adherence in urban informal settlements, the study builds an empirically grounded typology on adherence. Such a typology is useful for research and practice on improving adherence to medical advice in vulnerable LMIC settings.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.