Predicting medication adherence in severe mental disorders.
OBJECTIVE
This study explored the utility of the health belief model (HBM) in explaining medication adherence in subjects with severe and disabling mental disorders.


METHODS
Six well-established measuring instruments, with confirmed reliability and validity, were used to assess each component of the HBM and medication adherence in 39 hospital-treated subjects with affective disorders (n = 27) or schizophrenia (n = 12).


RESULTS
Highly adherent and partially adherent subjects differed significantly in their perception of illness severity, their beliefs about themselves and their control over the disorder, and their concerns about further hospitalization. Two components of the HBM (perceived severity of illness and perceived benefits of treatment) explained 43% of the variance in adherence behaviour.


CONCLUSIONS
Although the study has a number of methodological limitations, the results suggest that clinical assessment of components of the HBM may improve the detection of patients at risk of medication non-adherence.
Adams
J
J
University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Scott
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires