Knowledge and compliance towards lithium therapy among Chinese psychiatric patients in Hong Kong.
Although patient education is believed to promote medication compliance, the exact relationship between the acquisition of drug knowledge and compliance during lithium treatment is unclear. A survey of 50 Chinese patients on maintenance lithium therapy revealed that their medical knowledge about lithium treatment, as measured by a "Lithium Questionnaire," was very limited. Nonetheless, 70% of these patients were found, by multiple criteria, to be good compliers, and lithium compliance was apparently not affected by the amount of drug knowledge that patients possessed. It is argued that in the process of conducting patient education to enhance lithium compliance, a sound therapeutic alliance is more important than sheer knowledge acquisition.
Lee
S
S
Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin.
Wing
Y K
YK
Wong
K C
KC
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D003906:Developing Countries; D016903:Drug Monitoring; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008094:Lithium / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology
D008094:Lithium