The Pattern of Adherence in Patients with Bipolar I Disorder; an Eight Weeks Study

authors:

avatar Ali Sharifi 1 , avatar Amir Shabani 1 , avatar Masoud Ahmadzad-Asl 2 , *

Tehran Psychiatric Institute, Mental Health Research Centre, Iran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Tehran, Iran
Tehran Psychiatric Institute, Mansouri St, Niyayesh St, Sattarkhan Ave, Tehran, Iran
Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences: Vol.3, issue 2; 39-43
published online: December 31, 2009
article type: Original Article
received: July 05, 2009
accepted: September 29, 2009

How To Cite Sharifi A, Shabani A, Ahmadzad-Asl M. The Pattern of Adherence in Patients with Bipolar I Disorder; an Eight Weeks Study. Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci. 2009;3(2): 39-43. 

Abstract

Objectives: Non-adherence limits the effectiveness of medications among patients with bipolar disorder. Many studies have investigated the predicting factors of non-adherence. This paper aims to present the pattern of adherence in patients with bipolar I disorder (BID).
Methods: Seventy six patients with BID enrolled in a prospective study. The Medication Possession Ratio (MPR) was used to evaluate patients' adherence to medications, and repeated measure analysis was performed to reveal the pattern of variations. A Persian translation of Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI-10) (shortened version) was used to assess the attitude of patients toward medications.
Results: the repeated measure analysis revealed that the adherence to medications successively decreased (p<0.001). Age, gender, marital status, educational level, comorbid substance abuse did not alter the pattern.
Conclusion: There is a decreasing pattern in the adherence to medications among BID patients, regardless of known predicting factors of non-adherence. It means even fully adherent patients could potentially become non-adherents during the course of maintenance treatment.

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