ABSTRACT
Objective@#Mood instability (MI) is a clinically significant trait associated with psychiatric disorders. However, there are no concise measurements to evaluate MI. The initial Mood Instability Questionnaire-Trait (MIQ-T) was developed to fill this gap. The current study aimed to create a short form of MIQ-T (MIQ-T-SF) that measures MI with high validity and reliability in the Korean general population. @*Methods@#Of the 59 items in the MIQ-T, 17 items were chosen for the MIQ-T-SF following the factor analysis process. In total, 540 participants completed the MIQ-T-SF. Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega were used to evaluate reliability. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to determine construct validity. Concurrent validity was confirmed via comparisons with Personality Assessment Inventory-Borderline Features Scale. Measurement invariance across gender and age groups was confirmed before analyzing differences in scores using Kruskal-Wallis test. @*Results@#The MIQ-T-SF displayed expected correlations and high internal consistency (α=0.71–0.90, Ωt=0.72–0.92). Using EFA and CFA, a five-factor structure was confirmed. Measurement invariance was supported, and gender differences were observed. @*Conclusion@#The MIQ-T-SF is an accurate and reliable method to detect MI in the Korean general population. The study’s results offer new perspectives for future studies on MI.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the medication adherence rate and related factors in chronic schizophrenia. METHODS: A total of 65 (34 male and 31 female) outpatients with schizophrenia and with less than 5 years schizophrenia treatment were randomly selected to participate in the study survey. Medication adherence rate was evaluated by counting remaining tablets. The Korean version of Drug Attitude Inventory-10 (KDAI-10) was used to determine the subjective adherence rate. Adherence was defined as a patient taking more than 80% of their total prescribed medication. Positive KDAI-10 scores indicate good adherence. RESULTS: The rate of good adherence was 87.7%. Our analysis showed that an older age (r=0.323, p=0.009), longer duration of illness (r=0.296, p=0.017), employment (F=4.41, p=0.016), remaining married (F=5.26, p=0.008), and being supported by family members, especially spouse or siblings (F=3.02, p=0.025) were significantly associated with good adherence. Presence of symptoms such as delusion (p=0.033) and hallucination (p=0.032) were related to poor adherence. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that future study should investigate patient characteristics associated with medication adherence and analyze the clinician/patient alliance and its affect on adherence. The results also show that further studies might be useful in developing and validating measures of adherence, as well as in designing and evaluating interventions to improve adherent behaviors.