Charles Davis Dec 24, 2016:

@Robert That point — whether there is a similar debate about these terms in Spanish, and thus whether cumplimiento vs adherencia is a significant word choice that should be reflected — is a very interesting one, to which I don't know the answer. However, I do know (and sometimes translate for) someone who does research in this very area of medical translation, and who should know. I think I'll ask. My feeling is that although in Spain younger doctors, at least, are becoming more sensitive to patient-friendliness of language and to patient-centred models of medicine, this process is much less advanced than in English, and many doctors probably do still take the attitude that they give the orders and patients should shut up and do as they're told (to put it crudely). In any case, as I said before, I don't think the lexical parallel is exact, since "cumplir" doesn't carry the connotation of "doing as you're told" as strongly as "comply" does.

I'll report back if I find out anything of value. Meanwhile, have a great Christmas, everyone!

Robert Carter Dec 24, 2016:

@Charles Fair enough, and all good points as usual. More of a "what if" question, particularly because I've also seen "adherencia" used and I wanted to raise the question of perhaps us just assuming that there's no such debate as to paternalism in Spanish.

@Giovanni.
While I never suggested you were guessing, informed guesswork is a large part of what we do here, isn't it?.

I wish you all a very happy holiday!

Charles Davis Dec 20, 2016:

Obviously one is free to ignore the recommendations of the medical profession, though I can't see any good reason to do so in this case if one is translating for them.

A spirited (US) welcoming of the current preference for "adherence" here:
http://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/adherence-is-the-new-...

And it's not just the US; here is a 2005 NHS document on the subject, entitled "Concordance, adherence and compliance in medicine taking":

"Terminology recommendations
We recognised that these three terms are now used interchangeably and that this has generated some confusion. After discussion within the Project team and with our Expert Panel and Consultation Groups, we recommend ‘adherence’ as the term of choice to describe patients’ medicine taking behaviour."

They also say: "Compliance is defined as: ‘The extent to which the patient’s behaviour matches the prescriber’s recommendations.’ However, its use is declining as it implies lack of patient involvement. [...] Adherence develops the definition of compliance by emphasising the need for agreement."
http://www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/81394...

Giovanni Rengifo Dec 20, 2016:

@philgoddard Charles has just given a very thorough explanation supporting my word choice. I couldn't have said it better. Based on my experience with the translation of medical reports/studies, "adherence" would actually be the term of art. But even if they are synonyms, I see no reason for questioning my answer as a posible alternative. I've seen that happens a lot here. And @Robert Carter, my answer was not a "guess".

Charles Davis Dec 20, 2016:

@Robert Well, I don't think one-to-one mapping of cognates is in itself a compelling reason for choosing one or the other. I think "cumplimiento" and "adherencia" would be exact synonyms here. If there were no argument against "compliance", it would be natural to use it for "cumplimiento" and "adherence" for "adherencia"; one would do so almost by inertia. But the point is that there is such an argument.

Actually, in general "compliance" is a more restricted term than "cumplimiento"; "comply with" is sometimes but not always suitable for "cumplir". The right word is often fulfil or satisfy or meet. "Compliance" is a word that tends to be avoided now in the context of the doctor-patient relationship. The AMA explicitly recommends doing so. The reason, I think, that it is held to carry connotations of laws and regulations, with the possibility of penalties for non-compliance, and this is held to make it an "unfriendly" word. I'm not saying this is my view, just reporting.

As it happens I've just done a medical article in which I used "comply with" for "cumplirá mejor las órdenes médicas", and the medical reviser has changed it to "adhere to" for the reasons I've mentioned.

Robert Carter Dec 20, 2016:

@Charles - I'm inclined to agree, but... if the Spanish uses "cumplimiento" instead of "adherencia", shouldn't we use "compliance" too, instead of second guessing the original?

Charles Davis Dec 19, 2016:

Cumplimiento As Giovanni has said, the favoured term is now "adherence"; "compliance" is considered to be demeaning to patients. Some would say this is just political correctness, but there it is.

philgoddard Dec 19, 2016:

Cumplimiento de terapia is treatment compliance.

schmetterlich (asker) Dec 19, 2016:

I am asking about cumplimiento de terapia A4+

philgoddard Dec 19, 2016:

Is it "A4+" you're asking about? Presumably you know what the rest means.
Could it refer to the size of the paper? What else does this "ficha" say?
By the way, please don't close this question without giving a reason or saying thank you.