Patient and Physician Attitudes Toward Lithium

Adherence to Treatment Regimen in a Lithium Carbonate Clinic

“…The finding that elevated mood was negatively related to patient adherence to regimens is similar to findings by Jamison et al 2 Although depressive relapse is reported by Schou et al to be associated with nonadherence,27 in the present study patients with higher elevated mood scores were significantly less cooperative. This finding reinforces the need for clinicians carefully to monitor patient mood as a predictor of potential problems with adherence.…”

Long-term outcome of lithium prophylaxis in patients initially classified as complete responders

“…It cannot be excluded that sociocultural factors played a role in such divergence of results: the greater emphasis laid in American society on effectiveness and productivity might enhance the social advantage related to periods of hypomania, so that patients might be more likely to miss these periods during lithium treatment. Another point on which our data are in agreement with those of the Aarhus group and at variance with those of American authors (in particular, Jamison et al 1979) is the nature of the side effects which are most frequently reported as reasons for lithium discontinuation: in the present study, as well as in that by Maarbjerg et al (1988), only somatic side effects (in particular, weight gain and polyuria) were mentioned by the patients, whereas in American studies patients found cognitive side effects (memory and concentration disturbances) more important. This divergence may be in part related to the different methods of data collection.…”

Using Health Belief Models to Understand the Efficacy-Effectiveness Gap for Mood Stabilizer Treatments

“…Our self-reported rates of non-adherence are entirely consistent with the findings of Jamison et al [7] that about 50% of patients with affective disorders adhere completely to lithium. The use of self-report measures of adherence is often criticized.…”