Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center in Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Schizophr Bull. 2013 Jul;39(4):917-22. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbs005. Epub 2012 Feb 15.
Antipsychotic medication represents the treatment of choice in psychosis according to clinical guidelines. Nevertheless, studies show that half to almost three-quarter of all patients discontinue medication with antipsychotics after some time, a fact which is traditionally ascribed to side-effects, mistrust against the clinician and poor illness insight. The present study investigated whether positive attitudes toward psychotic symptoms (ie, gain from illness) represent a further factor for medication noncompliance. An anonymous online survey was set up in order to prevent conservative response biases that likely emerge in a clinical setting. Following an iterative selection process, data from a total of 113 patients with a likely diagnosis of schizophrenia and a history of antipsychotic treatment were retained for the final analyses (80%). While side-effect profile and mistrust emerged as the most frequent reasons for drug discontinuation, 28% of the sample reported gain from illness (eg, missing voices, feeling of power) as a motive for noncompliance. At least every fourth patient reported the following reasons: stigma (31%), mistrust against the physician/therapist (31%), and rejection of medication in general (28%). Approximately every fifth patient had discontinued antipsychotic treatment because of forgetfulness. On average, patients provided 4 different explanations for noncompliance. Ambivalence toward symptoms and treatment should thoroughly be considered when planning treatment in psychosis. While antipsychotic medication represents the evidence-based cornerstone of the current treatment in schizophrenia, further research is needed on nonpharmacological interventions for noncompliant patients who are willing to undergo intervention but refuse pharmacotherapy.
抗精神病药物是精神分裂症临床治疗指南中推荐的首选治疗方法。然而,研究表明,有一半到四分之三的患者在一段时间后会停止服用抗精神病药物,这一事实传统上归因于副作用、对临床医生的不信任和对疾病认识不足。本研究探讨了对精神病症状的积极态度(即患病获益)是否是药物依从性差的另一个因素。本研究建立了匿名在线调查,以防止临床环境中可能出现的保守反应偏差。经过反复筛选,共有 113 名可能被诊断为精神分裂症且有抗精神病药物治疗史的患者的数据被保留用于最终分析(80%)。虽然副作用和不信任是停药的最常见原因,但仍有 28%的患者报告患病获益(例如,幻听消失、感觉有力量)是不遵医嘱的原因。至少每四个患者报告的原因如下:耻辱感(31%)、对医生/治疗师的不信任(31%)和对药物治疗的普遍排斥(28%)。大约每五个患者因为健忘而停止了抗精神病药物治疗。平均而言,患者对不遵医嘱提供了 4 种不同的解释。在计划精神分裂症的治疗时,应充分考虑对症状和治疗的矛盾态度。虽然抗精神病药物是目前治疗精神分裂症的循证基石,但对于愿意接受干预但拒绝药物治疗的不遵医嘱患者,需要进一步研究非药物干预措施。