Korean J Schizophr Res.  2012 Oct;15(2):106-113. 10.16946/kjsr.2012.15.2.106.

Attitude Toward Antipsychotic Treatment According to Patients' Awareness of the Name of Their Illness in Patients with Schizophrenia

• Jang JE
• Kim SW
• Lee YH
• Kim SY
• Bae KY
• Kim JM
• Shin IS
• Yoon JS

• KMID: 2288287
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.16946/kjsr.2012.15.2.106

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study compared attitudes toward antipsychotic treatment according to awareness of the name of their illness in patients with schizophrenia.
METHODS
Information on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, including awareness of the importance of antipsychotic treatment, was obtained through a self-report questionnaire. The Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI) was administered. The data were compared according to awareness of the name of their illness.
RESULTS
The study analyzed data for 199 patients with schizophrenia. Of these, 115 patients (57.8%) were aware that their illness was called schizophrenia, while 84 patients (42.2%) knew it by their psychotic symptoms or as another mental illness, such as depression. The patients aware of the name of their illness had significantly longer durations of illness and higher scores on the DAI. They were significantly more likely to have stopped taking medication on their own accord and to agree with the importance of antipsychotic treatment. Statistical significance was sustained in a logistic regression analysis after adjusting for the duration of illness and study site, except for the DAI score, which had borderline significance (p=0.055). In subjects with duration of illness > or =5 years, patients aware of the name of their illness had significantly higher scores on the DAI.
CONCLUSION
Awareness of the name of their illness was associated with awareness of the importance of, and a positive attitude toward, antipsychotic treatments in patients. Psycho-education, including telling the patient the correct name of his or her illness, might be needed for maintaining antipsychotic treatment in patients with chronic schizophrenia.

Keyword

Adherence; Antipsychotics; Drug Attitude Inventory; Schizophrenia; Illness name

MeSH Terms

Antipsychotic Agents
Depression
Humans
Logistic Models
Surveys and Questionnaires
Schizophrenia
Antipsychotic Agents

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Scores on Drug Attitude Inventory according to the awareness of illness name in participants with duration of illness (DOI)<5 year or ≥5 year. Bar represents median and interquartile range. (A) p-value=0.401 and (B) p-value=0.033 by Mann-Whitney U test.

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