ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Non-compliance to medications remains a challenging problem in schizophrenia. Newer strategies with high feasibility and acceptability are always being researched. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of technology-based intervention in improving medication compliance in individuals with schizophrenia. METHOD: This was a prospective intervention study where participants were required to use the SuperMD smartphone application (Digital-Health Technologies Pte Ltd, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) for a month. A change in the Medication Adherence Rating Scale-Malay Translation (MARS-M) and Malay Translation of Drug Adherence Inventory-9 (MDAI-9) scores indicated a change in compliance and attitude to medication. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to assess change in symptoms and insight. Medication compliance was also obtained from the SuperMD application. Paired T-test was used to evaluate the significance of changes in mean scores of research variables over the study period. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to analyze the subscale of MDAI-9 and the change in PANSS score. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine the effect of the change of insight on the level of compliance with medication. RESULTS: There were 36 participants in this study. The results showed statistically significant improvement in compliance (0.65, p ≤ 0.01) but not in attitude towards medication (0.78, p = 0.065). There was also an improvement in PANNS score (-2.58, P ≤ 0.01). There was no significant change in insight (χ2(2) = 3.802, p = 0.15). Conclusion:The use of technology-based strategies like SuperMD is effective in improving medication compliance for individuals with schizophrenia.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: The Drug Attitude Inventory 9 (DAI-9) is a nine-item self-rated questionnaire. The questionnaire assessed positive and negative attitudes of patients toward taking medication, presence of medication side effects and perceived autonomy in treatment decision. Aim: This study aimed to validate the psychometric properties of the Malay translation of Drug Attitude Inventory 9 (MDAI-9). METHOD: DAI-9 was translated from English to Malay via forward and backward translation process to produce MDAI-9. MDAI-9 was then validated on patients with psychosis who were attending psychiatry out-patient clinics. Results: There were 54 participants in this study. The subscale (attitude towards psychotropic medications) has a Cronbach's α of 0.93, whereas the subscale that assesses the presence of side effect problems has a Cronbach's α of 0.86. Exploratory factor analysis supported a two-factor model. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin's measure of sampling adequacy was 0.64 and Bartlett's test of sphericity was significant (âââââX2 (36) = 281.8, p <0.001). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, MDAI-9 is reliable and valid.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: The Medication Adherence Rating Scale (MARS) is a self-rated questionnaire that assesses medication compliance. AIM: This study aimed to validate the Malaysian language translation of the MARS (MARS-M). METHOD: The original scale was translated to Malay via forward and backward translation process. The psychometric properties of the MARS-M were validated on clinical samples (N = 54). RESULTS: The MARS-M was filled by 54 participants. Exploratory factor analysis supported a two-factor model. Factor 1 of the MARS-M consisted of four items (α = 0.84), while factor 2 consisted of three items (α = 0.78).Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was 0.60, and Bartlett's test of sphericity was significant (X2 (28) = 66.4, p <0.001). CONCLUSION: The MARS-M is reliable and valid.
