Medication Adherence Rating Scale (MARS)

The Medication Adherence Rating Scale (MARS) is a 10-item self-report measure developed by Thompson, Kulkarni, and Sergejew in 2000 to assess medication adherence behaviors and attitudes in psychiatric populations, particularly antipsychotic medication use. Although originally validated in schizophrenia, it has been successfully applied across diverse medical conditions including hypertension, diabetes, and chronic disease management, providing a quick, sensitive assessment of actual adherence frequency and admission of problematic medication-taking behaviors.