For us in the medical profession, it’s all too common to find out that patients have not been taking the meds you prescribed to them. In most cases, patients will either sight side effects or an end in the sickness as the reasons they stopped taking their medication.What these patients never realize is that failure to follow your prescription may put your life in danger.
This situation is usually much worse when it comes to paediatric health especially for the kids who are old enough to self-administer medication. It’s important for them to be able to finish up their doses and completely eradicate the illness from their bodies because this ensures they don’t have to visit hospitals on a regular basis hence significantly reducing the numberof times they get exposed to paediatric radiology.
We sought to find out the real reasons kids don’t take their meds and came up with the following 4 reasons.
1 Failure to understand the value of taking medication
Sometimes, we as doctors may wrongly assume that by virtue of us prescribing medication to a patient, they will know it’s for the purpose of healing their ailment. Unfortunately this is not the case. Many patients don’t have a clear understanding why it’s important to diligently follow their prescription. This makes them stop taking their meds immediately they feel their symptoms have subsided. What they don’t know is that failure to complete all the meds will expose them to the possibility of the disease recurring.
2 Side effects of the medication
Because of the different compounds that go into making medicine, all drugs will have some level of side effects on the patient. This however varies in degree for different patients. However, some patients experience side effects which they find unbearable and this makes them stop taking their meds. It’s also unfortunate in this case that some of these patients especially teenagers and young adults will not go to their parents or doctor for advice on what to do. It’s important to note that your doctor can always prescribe an alternative drug with less side effects on you.
3 Daily tight schedules
The simple task of swallowing a pill tends to get lost on many patients as a result of their daily schedules which tend to be tight. Therefore, people simply forget to take their medication especially if they are required to swallow a pill a couple of times in day.
4 The high cost of medication
This particular point mostly falls on doctors as well as parents. As doctors, most of the time we don’t prescribe medication based on cost but because we know it’s the best option for treating a patient’s ailment. However, once the parents gets to the pharmacy, they find out that the medication is way above their budget and unfortunately, they don’t come back to the doctor for a way forward. It’s therefore advisable for parents to be aware that a doctor will always prescribe an alternative in such case so they should make it a point to consult their doctors for guidance.
Parents are therefore advised to educate their kids or seek help in educating their kids on the value of medication.