Beliefs, feelings and insight of patients with schizophrenia about taking medication

There has been little systematic study of the attitude of clients with schizophrenia toward treatment, specifically about taking medication. This study measured the attitude of 100 clients with schizophrenia toward taking their medication in the hospital. They include 47 males and 53 females ranging in age from 18 to 75 years (mean = 33). Interviews occurred on the 1st to 32nd hospital day (mean = 4). Fishbein's expectancy-value model provided the theoretical base for this study. Both open-ended and fixed-response estimates of attitude were made. Insight was measured, and the relationship between insight and attitude and between hallucinations and insight were analysed. Age and sex were evaluated in order to determine their effects, if any, on attitude. Internal consistency of both the fixed-response instruments and the insight instrument was evaluated. Clients were able to provide information about beliefs and feelings about taking medication and about insight into illness and treatment. Attitudes varied tremendously; clients frequently held both strongly positive and strongly negative beliefs at the same time. The range for the fixed-response estimate of attitude was -52 to +76; the range for the open-ended estimate was -84 to +24. However, the instruments were significantly correlated (r = 0.5640, P = less than 0.000). Clients also varied widely in their insights with some having good insight and some having poor insight. The insight instrument correlated with the fixed response instrument (r = 0.2585; P = 0.005) suggesting that insight may be related to positive attitude. Attitudes were not affected either by age or sex. Insight was negatively affected by hallucinations.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)