Assessment of adherence to psychotropic medications among outâ€patients at the Pharmacy Department of a Psychiatric Hospital, in Benin City, Nigeria
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Abstract
Patient adherence to medication regimens determines the success of the illness remission. Poorâ€adherence among patients diagnosed with psychiatric illnesses is associated with poor clinical outcomes and high economic and human resource utilization.The aim was to evaluate the level of patients’ adherence to psychotropic drugs and also to explore factors associated with poor medication adherence. A crossâ€sectional questionnaire survey of 200 (n = 200) conveniently sampled patients in an outâ€patient pharmacy setting using a sociodemographic questionnaire and the eightâ€item Morisky medication adherence scale. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to summarize and test for associations in the variables.
Adherence varied from poorâ€adherence (55.5%) through moderate (36%) to high adherence (8.5%) among participants. No significant associations were observed between poor medication adherence and the socioâ€demographic characteristics of patients. More than half of the psychiatric outâ€patients were poorly adherent to prescribed medications. Strategies to improve adherence are crucial in psychiatric care.
Key words: Medication adherence, outâ€patients, pharmacy, psychiatry, psychotropic
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