A study of non-compliance with pharmacotherapy in psychiatric patients

ABSTRACT

Background: Non-compliance to treatment, especially medication is an important area of concern in psychiatry as it contributes to relapse and re-hospitalization of the patients. One of the ways to improve drug compliance is to know crucial factors responsible for poor drug compliance so that proper management strategies may be planned to improve patients’ drug compliance Aims: To find out the reasons for drug non-compliance and its association with socio demographic variables and psychiatric diagnosis. Methods: The study was conducted on patients attending psychiatry outpatient department for duration of seven months to evaluate the reasons for treatment non-compliance, using a questionnaire designed for the purpose. Results: In our study, it was observed that 63.75% of subjects were compliant and 36.25% were non-compliant. A significant association was found between non-compliance and age group more than 46 years, female gender, low socio economic class, low education rate. Non-compliance was highest among patients with schizophrenia (45.16%) and the main reason for drug non-compliance identified in the present study was a lack of knowledge about the nature of illness. Conclusion: The result of the study concludes that the major reason for non-compliance was lack of knowledge about the illness reflecting the importance of psycho education. Key message Lack of knowledge about the nature of illness was the main reason for non-compliance.