1892 – Therapeutic adherence in depot medicated patients

Abstract

Introduction and objectives Poor adherence remains a problem in schizophrenic patients. Treatment guidelines for schizophrenia recommend depot medications for patients who are no adherent to oral regimens. This study aims to evaluate subjective experiences, adverse effects and adherence of depot medicated patients. Methods Was applied a questionnaire composed by the “Drug Attitude Inventory” (subjectively assesses the attitude and experiences of patients towards their depot medication) and by questions about adverse effects with medications. We took into account four different depot formulations: risperidone, haloperidol, fluphenazine and zuclopenthixol. Results Participated 44 schizophrenic patients. The majority is male (77%). Clinically, the mean age of diagnosis is 28 years. About 50% of patients do the long acting risperidone, 31,8% the haloperidol decanoate and 9,1% the fluphenazine or zuclopenthixol. About 52,3% say they do not know the reason they take depot medication and 16% report previous therapeutic abandonment. There are not differences between mean results in “Drug attitude inventory” and all depot medications average in the positive range. Most frequent adverse affects are weight gain (29,5%) and sedation (15,9%). In rating discomfort of adverse affects 54,5% patients score zero (no discomfort) and 2,3% score ten (very uncomfortable) without significant differences between formulations. Discussion/conclusion Despite reporting adverse effects, patients attribute a low score in terms of discomfort. Although some of them report ignore the reason they are taking depot, patients have positive subjective experiences and attitudes with these medications. This fact may be predictive of good compliance.