Adherence to Antidepressant Therapy: Sociodemographic Factor Wise Distribution

Abstract

Medication compliance is a well-established issue in the care of depression. There is evidence that more than 50% of depressed patients withdraw treatment prematurely. Some factors reported to have an important effect on adherence are: poor socioeconomic status, poverty, illiteracy, low level of education, unemployment, lack of effective social support networks, unstable living conditions, long distance from treatment centre, high cost of transport, high cost of medication, changing environmental situations, culture and lay beliefs about illness and treatment and family dysfunction. To study the socio demographic factors that influence compliance to the treatment of depression. The present Cross sectional study was carried out in the department of General Medicine (IP) of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Kadapa, AP, A total of 103 subjects were participated in the study during 6 months) and the patients were enrolled to the study according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, after obtaining Informed Consent Form (ICF). Among the 103 psychiatric patients 31 patients were adherent and 72 patients were non adherent. In our study non-adherence was more unmarried, higher level of education occupy a lower socioeconomic strata and have a history of non-adherence. Our study revealed significant effect was observed only in level of education, and overall various barriers had less significant on non-adherence. Clinical pharmacist’s role still remains in psychiatry department for the improvement of patient medication adherence by creating awareness regarding disease and treatment and providing patient counselling services.