Medication Adherence in Patients Living with Schizophrenia Attending University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State (Published)
Schizophrenia is a disabling neuropsychiatric disorder which is chronic and needs prolonged pharmacological treatment in order to be optimally managed. Nonetheless, the problem of medication adherence is still a significant issue, especially in the resource-limited environments. This research examined medication compliance and socio-demographic predictors of medication compliance in a sample of schizophrenic patients in the University College Hospital, Ibadan. The type of cross-sectional design was descriptive with a sample of 295 patients chosen by simple random sampling. The structured questionnaire and the Medication Adherence Rating Scale (MARS) were used to collect data. Data was analyzed in SPSS version 28 and descriptive statistics were used as well as chi-square with a 5% level of significance. The results showed that 58.6 percent of the respondents were adherent to the prescribed medications and 41.4 percent were non-adherent. Medication adherence was found to be strongly related to age and length of illness with younger patients and those with shorter illness showing poorer adherence patterns. The rest of the socio-demographic factors (gender, marital status, education level and occupation) were not significantly associated with adherence. The research concluded that the level of adherence was rather moderate, but non-adherence is a significant issue. Both younger and newly diagnosed patients and long-term adherence support strategies should be targeted to enhance treatment outcomes and decrease the relapse rates in schizophrenics.
Keywords: Mental Health, Schizophrenia., Socio- Demographic Factors, antipsychotic therapy, medication adherence