Beyond the usual suspects: positive attitudes towards positive symptoms is associated with medication noncompliance in psychosis.
Data(s) |
2013
|
---|---|
Resumo |
Antipsychotic medication represents the treatment of choice in psychosis according to clinical guidelines. Nevertheless, studies show that half to almost three-quarter of all patients discontinue medication with antipsychotics after some time, a fact which is traditionally ascribed to side-effects, mistrust against the clinician and poor illness insight. The present study investigated whether positive attitudes toward psychotic symptoms (ie, gain from illness) represent a further factor for medication noncompliance. An anonymous online survey was set up in order to prevent conservative response biases that likely emerge in a clinical setting. Following an iterative selection process, data from a total of 113 patients with a likely diagnosis of schizophrenia and a history of antipsychotic treatment were retained for the final analyses (80%). While side-effect profile and mistrust emerged as the most frequent reasons for drug discontinuation, 28% of the sample reported gain from illness (eg, missing voices, feeling of power) as a motive for noncompliance. At least every fourth patient reported the following reasons: stigma (31%), mistrust against the physician/therapist (31%), and rejection of medication in general (28%). Approximately every fifth patient had discontinued antipsychotic treatment because of forgetfulness. On average, patients provided 4 different explanations for noncompliance. Ambivalence toward symptoms and treatment should thoroughly be considered when planning treatment in psychosis. While antipsychotic medication represents the evidence-based cornerstone of the current treatment in schizophrenia, further research is needed on nonpharmacological interventions for noncompliant patients who are willing to undergo intervention but refuse pharmacotherapy. |
Identificador |
http://serval.unil.ch/?id=serval:BIB_2F18A9E0784A isbn:1745-1701 (Electronic) pmid:22337789 doi:10.1093/schbul/sbs005 isiid:000320908900025 |
Idioma(s) |
en |
Direitos |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
Fonte |
Schizophrenia Bulletin, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 917-922 |
Tipo |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article article |