Adherence to Antipsychotic Medication and Quality of Life in Latin-American Patients Diagnosed with Schizophrenia

• Main Authors: Caqueo-Urízar A, Urzúa A, Mena-Chamorro P, Fond G, Boyer L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2020-09-01
• Series: Patient Preference and Adherence
• Subjects: adherence; quality of life; schizophrenia; latin-american.
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/adherence-to-antipsychotic-medication-and-quality-of-life-in-latin-ame-peer-reviewed-article-PPA

Alejandra Caqueo-Urízar,1 Alfonso Urzúa,2 Patricio Mena-Chamorro,3 Guillaume Fond,4 Laurent Boyer4 1Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile; 2Escuela de Psicología, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile; 3Escuela de Psicología y Filosofía, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile; 4Aix-Marseille Univ, EA 3279 – Public Health, Chronic Diseases and Quality of Life - Research Unit, Marseille 13005, FranceCorrespondence: Alejandra Caqueo-UrízarInstituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Antofagasta 1520, Arica, ChileTel [phone]Email [e-mail]: The purpose of this study was to describe the association between adherence to antipsychotic medication and quality of life (QoL) in a sample of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia.Methods: Two hundred fifty-three patients were included from three public mental health services from Bolivia, Peru, and Chile. Data were collected using the Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI-10) and the Schizophrenia Quality of Life short-version questionnaire (SQoL-18), which considers 8 dimensions.Results: Significant associations were found between adherence to antipsychotic medication treatment and QoL (S-QoL-18 index: β = 0.26, p = 0.004; self-esteem: β = 0.37, p = 0.000; and sentimental life: β = 0.20, p = 0.033). Associations of clinical and socio-demographic variables with QoL were identified: severity of psychotic symptoms, awareness of the disease, gender, age, and ethnicity were found to be associated with a lower level of QoL (β from 0.14 − 0.56).Conclusion: This study provides evidence of the association between adherence to treatment and quality of life in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Therefore, as in developed countries, improving adherence to antipsychotic medication would appear to be an important issue to address to improve patients’ QoL in Latin American countries.Keywords: adherence, quality of life, schizophrenia, Latin-American