Improving treatment adherence in patients with schizophrenia.

Nonadherence to antipsychotic medications is an enormous challenge for clinicians and patients in the treatment of schizophrenia. Nonadherence and partial adherence are associated with high rates of relapse, rehospitalization, and suicide attempts. Assessing adherence can be difficult because patients are likely to overestimate their medication adherence and may not report skipping doses or discontinuing medication. Strategies for assessing and improving adherence rates among patients with schizophrenia, including the use of long-acting depot antipsychotic medications, are discussed.