Partial compliance and patient consequences in schizophrenia: our patients can do better.
The primary objective of this review is to evaluate the strategies used to improve patient compliance with antipsychotic medication in the treatment of schizophrenia. An electronic literature search of relevant studies using MEDLINE and the Cochrane Library (January 1974-December 2002) was performed using the search terms adherence, antipsychotic, atypical, compliance, conventional, and schizophrenia. English-language and non-English-language articles, references from bibliographies of reviews, original research articles, and other articles of interest were reviewed. Data quality was determined by publication in the peer-reviewed literature and the most important information was identified. Atypical antipsychotics are associated with an improved side-effect profile and reduced risk of relapse compared with the older agents. Additional benefit may be provided by long-acting injectable formulations as they provide the confidence of continuous medication coverage. Successful treatment of patients with schizophrenia requires acknowledgment that partial compliance will present a major barrier to achieving maximum outcomes. Ideally, all patients suspected of partial compliance should be considered suitable for treatment with a long-acting injectable atypical antipsychotic.
PubMed Abstracts
PubMed Abstracts