Medication adherence in schizophrenia

Abstract

Non-adherence is a major problem in the treatment of schizophrenia. Its high prevalence, potentially severe consequences and associated costs make the study of this phenomenon a priority issue. In this article, basic non-adherence concepts of prevalence, consequences, evaluation methods, methodological restrictions of available studies, risk factors and intervention strategies, are reviewed. Studying non-adherence risk factors is a necessary step toward designing adequately oriented intervention strategies. An operative definition of adherence and good knowledge of its evaluation methods are essential to study this phenomenon. Unfortunately, most available studies contain methodological restrictions, especially concerning the evaluation methods, and an agreed operative definition of adherence has only very recently been reached. Knowing non-adherence risk factors, intervention strategies and available evidence on their effectiveness is essential in making treatment decisions in daily clinical practice.

Adherence to Chronic Therapies in Psychiatry: From Treatment to Cure.The Relevance of Therapeutic Relationship

“…Why is it important for the patient to do this? After these questions have been answered, the patient's confidence on the treatment effectiveness will increase [3]. Only a stable therapeutic frame, where the triadic relationship among psychiatrist, patient and drug can be read with all its meanings of refusal, escape, anger, love, manipulation, or even sexual perversion, can prevent lack of adherence.…”

“…In Psychiatry, this problem seems to be more relevant than in the rest of Medicine. Counseling about medication adherence for the three major diseases states: in Schizophrenia, Mood Disorders, and Personality Disorders, thatis important to educate patients and their families about the consequences of not appropriately treating these conditions, which can result in psychotic attacks, increases in aggressiveness, suicides, potentially permanent losses of social skills and devastating alterations to their quality of life [3].…”

Intervenciones Para Mejorar La Adherencia Terapéutica en Sujetos Con Esquizofrenia

“…De este modo, a pesar de que las entrevistas y las escalas psicométricas son las herramientas más utilizadas (Singh, Massey, Thompson, Rappa & Honeywell, 2006), se sustenta que no existe una única técnica que sea capaz de evaluar correctamente la adherencia, y muchos autores recomiendan la utilización de al menos dos métodos distintos (un objetivo y un subjetivo) en cada proceso de evaluación (Acosta, Hernández, Pereira, Herrera & Rodríguez, 2012).…”

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Non-Adherence in Psychiatric Patients in Taif, Saudi Arabia

“…[9] Identifying factors that aggravate the risk of non-adherence to treatment is essential to enable the design of appropriate intervention strategies to reduce it. [10,11] Many studies investigated this problem in different populations and recorded variable prevalence rates and accused risk factors. Most of these studies contain methodological restrictions, especially concerning the evaluation methods of non-adherence.…”

“…Most of these studies contain methodological restrictions, especially concerning the evaluation methods of non-adherence. [10] To the best of our recent knowledge, few previous studies were done in Saudi Arabia, but none of them investigated the non-adherence phenomenon in Taif city. So, the aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and to identify common reasons and risk factors of nonadherence among psychiatric patients in Taif city.…”