Medication adherence and its correlates among patients affected by schizophrenia with an episodic course: A large-scale multi-center cross-sectional study in China.

Abstract

The Medication Adherence Rating Scale (MARS) is a fast, non-intrusive way of measuring adherence to medication in order to improve the management of patients with schizophrenia. The current cross-sectional study evaluated the reliability of the Chinese (Mandarin) version of the MARS and explored clinical and demographic correlates to medication adherence in a large sample of patients affected by schizophrenia with an episodic course in China. 1198 patients were recruited from 37 different hospitals in 17 provinces/municipalities of China and evaluated with the Medication Adherence Rating Scale (MARS), Clinical Global Impression-Severity of Illness (CGI-SI) and Sheehan Disability Scale-Chinese version (SDS-C). The MARS showed good internal consistency; Cronbach's alpha of total MARS was 0.83. Among the cohort of patients affected by schizophrenia with an episodic course, 28.5 % met the criteria of good adherence to antipsychotic medication; age, steady income, and severity of illness had significant effects on medication adherence. Medication adherence of patients affected by schizophrenia in mainland China was found to be relatively low, calling for urgent attention and intervention. Risk factors for non-adherence to medication among patients affected by schizophrenia with an episodic course include older age, unsteady income, being in the acute period of the disease, and severity of illness.