title: Adherence therapy following acute exacerbation of schizophrenia: A randomised controlled trial in Thailand.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Up to 50% of patients with schizophrenia are non-adherent with antipsychotic medication.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To establish the efficacy of adherence therapy (AT) compared to treatment as usual (TAU) in improving clinical outcomes in patients with schizophrenia following an acute exacerbation of illness.
  
  
  METHODS
  A parallel-group, single-blind, randomised controlled trial. Fieldwork was conducted in Thailand. Patients received eight weekly sessions of AT in addition to TAU. The primary outcome was improvement in psychopathology (measured using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)) at 26-week follow-up. Secondary outcomes included patient attitudes towards medication, global functioning and side-effects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 70 inpatients with schizophrenia were recruited to the trial. At 26-week follow-up, PANSS total scores improved in the AT compared to the TAU group by a mean of -3.94 points (effect size = 0.24). The number needed to treat (NNT) was 5. There was no significant effect on patients' attitudes towards treatment, functioning or medication side-effects. No treatment-related adverse effects were reported.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  AT improves psychopathology in Asian patients with schizophrenia following an acute exacerbation of illness.
authors.affiliation: Head of the Research Division, Boromarajonani College of Nursing Changwat Nonthaburi, Nonthaburi, Thailand.
authors.forename: Suparpit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: von Bormann
authors.affiliation: Section of Mental Health Nursing, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Robson
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Education and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar rgray@hmc.org.qa.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gray
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D044466:Asian People; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy*; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013785:Thailand; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents
keywords: Adherence; antipsychotic; compliance; schizophrenia