Drug Attitude and Medication Adherence among Patients with Psychiatric Illness: A Cross-sectional Analytical Study.

ABSTRACT: Introduction: Psychiatric disorders are clinically significant behavioral or psychological syndromes that are associated with distress or disability. The global burden of these disorders is increasing because they are considered a stigma in society and this is worsened by medication nonadherence. Many studies show that attitudes toward drugs have a direct or indirect impact on psychiatric illness. This study will help to understand the relationship between drug attitude and medication adherence. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional analytical research design was used. Data were collected from 100 patients using nonprobability convenience sampling technique. The Drug Attitude Inventory scale-30 and Medication Adherence Rating Scale were administered. Statistical analysis was performed by employing the statistical package, SPSS version 20. Karl Pearson's correlation coefficient, Pearson's Chi-squared test, and Fisher's exact test were used. Results: The majority of patients (85%) had positive drug attitudes with a mean score and a standard deviation (SD) was 10.54 ± 8.722, while 63% of patients adhered to the medications with a mean score and SD was 6.60 ± 1.902. Further, drug attitude was found to be a moderately positive correlation with medication adherence (r = 0.408). Moreover, drug attitude and medication adherence were significantly associated with the age of the patients (P < 0.05). Conclusion: A positive correlation was noted between drug attitude and medication adherence, suggesting an effective intervention program can be developed to change patients' attitude toward medications and thus increase their compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]