Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on medication adherence in psychiatric disorders

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions taken on the medication, thus treatment adherence of patients with psychiatric disorders. A semi-structured form prepared by the authors and the Morisky treatment adherence scale were applied to the patients who were regularly followed up in Gaziantep University Medical Faculty Psychiatry outpatient clinic for 6 months before March 11, 2020, which was the first date of the COVID-19 case in Turkey and who visited the outpatient clinic for follow-up after the pandemic. 206 patients who met the study criteria were evaluated. Of these patients, it was found that 29 (14.1%) had their medication adherence impaired due to non-pandemic reasons. Analysis was performed with the remaining 177 patients. The average age of patients was 41.73 ± 13.48. According to the general characteristics of the participants, 117 were women and 60 men. With regard to the treatment adherence rates, 69 patients (39%) were not affected by the pandemic in which treatment adherence was high, 46 (26%) had moderate treatment adherence, and 62 (35%) showed poor treatment adherence. The comparison of patients in terms of treatment adherence according to their diagnosis revealed no statistically significant difference (p = 0.100). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the medication (treatment) adherence of patients with psychiatric disorders who were on treatment before the pandemic. Studies with large samples are warranted to better understand the effect of the pandemic on treatment adherence.