Compliance with medication regimens for mental and physical disorders

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Pharmacology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Medication compliance is crucial for effective psychiatric treatment.
• Understanding compliance rates in psychiatric versus physical disorders is essential for optimizing patient outcomes.
• Existing research presents varied compliance rates, necessitating a comparative analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and compare medication compliance rates in psychiatric disorders with those in physical disorders.
• To evaluate the methods used for assessing medication compliance in psychiatric populations.
• To identify potential discrepancies in compliance rates attributable to assessment methodologies.

Main Methods:

• A literature search of MEDLINE (1975-1996) was conducted for studies on medication compliance in psychiatric treatment.
• Reports on antidepressant and antipsychotic medication compliance were selected, alongside studies using microelectronic monitoring for non-psychiatric disorders.
• Methods for compliance assessment and reported rates were critically reviewed and compared.

Main Results:

• Psychiatric patients exhibited lower average compliance rates: 58% for antipsychotics and 65% for antidepressants.
• Compliance rates for physical disorders, assessed via microelectronic monitoring, averaged 76%.
• Varied assessment methods (interviews, clinician judgment, pill counts) in psychiatric studies may inflate perceived non-compliance.

Conclusions:

• Medication adherence may indeed be lower in psychiatric disorders compared to physical ailments.
• The disparity in compliance rates could be significantly influenced by the chosen methods of assessment.
• Development of novel and enhanced compliance monitoring tools and adherence interventions is warranted for psychiatric pharmacotherapy.