Attitude Toward Antipsychotic Treatment According to Patients' Awareness of the Name of Their Illness in Patients with Schizophrenia.

Jang, Ji Eun; Kim, Sung Wan; Lee, Yo Han; Kim, Seon Young; Bae, Kyung Yeol; Kim, Jae Min; Shin, Il Seon; Yoon, Jin Sang

doi:2012.15.2.106

Korean J Schizophr Res > Volume 15(2); 2012 > Article

Original Article

Korean Journal of Schizophrenia Research 2012;15(2):106-113.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.16946/kjsr.2012.15.2.106 Published online October 31, 2012.

Attitude Toward Antipsychotic Treatment According to Patients' Awareness of the Name of Their Illness in Patients with Schizophrenia.

Ji Eun Jang, Sung Wan Kim, Yo Han Lee, Seon Young Kim, Kyung Yeol Bae, Jae Min Kim, Il Seon Shin, Jin Sang Yoon

¹Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea. swkim@chonnam.ac.kr
²Gwang-ju Bukgu Community Mental Health Center, Gwangju, Korea.
³Department of Psychiatry, St. John Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study compared attitudes toward antipsychotic treatment according to awareness of the name of their illness in patients with schizophrenia.
METHODS
Information on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, including awareness of the importance of antipsychotic treatment, was obtained through a self-report questionnaire. The Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI) was administered. The data were compared according to awareness of the name of their illness.
RESULTS
The study analyzed data for 199 patients with schizophrenia. Of these, 115 patients (57.8%) were aware that their illness was called schizophrenia, while 84 patients (42.2%) knew it by their psychotic symptoms or as another mental illness, such as depression. The patients aware of the name of their illness had significantly longer durations of illness and higher scores on the DAI. They were significantly more likely to have stopped taking medication on their own accord and to agree with the importance of antipsychotic treatment. Statistical significance was sustained in a logistic regression analysis after adjusting for the duration of illness and study site, except for the DAI score, which had borderline significance (p=0.055). In subjects with duration of illness > or =5 years, patients aware of the name of their illness had significantly higher scores on the DAI.
CONCLUSION
Awareness of the name of their illness was associated with awareness of the importance of, and a positive attitude toward, antipsychotic treatments in patients. Psycho-education, including telling the patient the correct name of his or her illness, might be needed for maintaining antipsychotic treatment in patients with chronic schizophrenia.

Key Words: Adherence · Antipsychotics · Drug Attitude Inventory · Schizophrenia · Illness name