Bipolar affective disorder: medication adherence and satisfaction with treatment and guidance by the health team in a mental health service

Facilitators and Barriers of Medication Adherence Based on Beliefs of Persons with Bipolar Disorder: A Qualitative Study

One of the big challenges in treating individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) is nonadherence to medication. This is the principal factor associated with a worse prognosis or outcome of the disease. This study aimed to explore and analyze the individual perceptions that people with BD have about the positive and negative aspects when taking medication. A descriptive and interpretative study was carried out using the qualitative research paradigm with the use of the analytical technique of discourse analysis, extracting the data through the completion of focus groups. Participants’ speech was digitally audio-recorded in digital format. In order to complete the codification of the participants’ speech content, we relied on the qualitative data analysis (using the QRS NVivo 10 computer software). Thirty-six participants diagnosed with bipolar disorder took part in our study. In the participants’ speech concerning the main barriers to pharmacological treatment, three key topics were identified. Perceived facilitators were summarized in four factors. The main facilitators regarding the use of pharmacological treatment in individuals with BD were the ones related with the perceived need for treatment in the acute phase, the recognition of the illness, the shared clinical decision, and the causal biological attribution in the chronic phase. In terms of perceived barriers, social control was identified in both phases, adverse effects in the acute phase, and the absence of effective treatment in the chronic state.

Treatment Attitudes and Adherence Among Patients with Bipolar Disorder: A Systematic Review of Quantitative and Qualitative Studies

BACKGROUND

Systematic reviews about treatment attitudes of patients influencing adherence in bipolar disorder (BD) are rare.

METHODS

A systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines and principles of thematic synthesis. Selectively identified quantitative and qualitative studies were used to examine the attitude-adherence relationship in BD, the types and correlates of treatment attitudes, and the impact of psychosocial interventions on attitudes.

RESULTS

The final list of 163 articles included 114 observational reports (incorporating 21 psychosocial intervention trials), 45 qualitative/descriptive studies, and 4 patient surveys. A positive association between treatment attitudes and adherence was found in most quantitative and qualitative studies, though the strength of the relationship was unclear. Thematic analysis of qualitative studies suggested that patient attitudes influencing adherence were based on perceived advantages and disadvantages of treatment. The principal correlates of patients' attitudes were family attitudes, the clinician-patient alliance, social support, and patients' knowledge of BD. Though negative attitudes such as denial, concerns about adverse treatment consequences, and stigmatizing effects of treatment were common, many patients believed treatment to be beneficial and necessary. The limited data on the effect of psychosocial interventions indicated that treatments selectively targeting attitudes enhanced adherence.

LIMITATIONS

The studies were heterogeneous in design; the quality was uneven (fair to poor); and the risk of bias moderate to high.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite these flaws, awareness of the existing evidence on the attitude-adherence association and other aspects of treatment attitudes in BD can help in efforts to address nonadherence in BD.

Nonadherence in bipolar disorder patients: A 14-year retrospective study

BACKGROUND

Bipolar disorder is a disabling psychiatric disorder. The existing literature suggests about 41% of patients to be nonadherent. Nonadherence leads to relapses, delay in recovery besides higher inpatient care cost as well as higher global cost of the disease. Nonadherence in bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) is a complex phenomenon, its critical determinants are yet to be identified with certainty.

AIMS

This study aims to assess the prevalence of nonadherence in BPAD and to delineate the factors associated with it.

METHODS

Medical records were reviewed in this study from 2005 to 2019 at a medical college in Kerala. Patients who were diagnosed with BPAD according to International Classification of Diseases 10 and who were needing or opting for prophylaxis were included. Patients who were not taking medications for at least 1 week were termed as nonadherent. We included 150 participants in our study.

RESULTS

To test the statistical significance of the association of categorical variables between H/O of adherence and nonadherence, Chi-square test was used. In the sample, 82.7% had at least 1 week of history of noncompliance in the past. The most common reason was poor understanding of illness by the family (56%) followed by a negative aspect of the patient toward the drug (20%).

CONCLUSION

Therefore, this study concludes that though majority of the patients have a history of nonadherence of at least 1 week on long-term follow-up, it was seen that majority of the patients were more than 80% adherent to medications.

[Nursing care of a patient with bipolar disorder and lithium-induced nephrogenic diabetes insipidus]

Bipolar disorder is one of the most common, severe and persistent mental disorders. The evaluation of all data and variables related to bipolar disorder is a difficult task, because there is no clear agreement on what should be included in this category. One of the traditional treatments for this disease is the lithium metal that is administered in the form of lithium salt. Lithium has a narrow therapeutic window and there is a significant risk of complications arising from its use, mainly neurological and renal. In the case presented, the preparation of a care plan is described for a patient diagnosed with bipolar disorder who suffered a complication with lithium treatment. To do this, it was decided to use a standardized care plan and later completed it with diagnostic, objectives and interventions to the specific needs of the patient, aimed at achieving optimal levels of independence.

Unintentional non-adherence to chronic prescription medications: how unintentional is it really?

Background

Unintentional non-adherence has been characterized as passively inconsistent medication-taking behavior (forgetfulness or carelessness). Our objectives were to: (1) study the prevalence and predictors of unintentional non-adherence; and (2) explore the interrelationship between intentional and unintentional non-adherence in relation to patients’ medication beliefs.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional survey of adults with asthma, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, osteoporosis, or depression from the Harris Interactive Chronic Illness Panel. The analytic sample for this study included 24,017 adults who self-identified themselves as persistent to prescription medications for their index disease. They answered three questions on unintentional non-adherence (forgot, ran out, being careless), 11 questions on intentional non-adherence, and three multi-item scales assessing perceived need for medication (k = 10), perceived medication concerns (k = 6), and perceived medication affordability (k = 4). Logistic regression was used to model predictors of each unintentional non-adherence behavior. Baron and Kenny’s regression approach was used to test the mediational effect of unintentional non-adherence on the relationship between medication beliefs and intentional non-adherence. Bootstrapping was employed to confirm the statistical significance of these results.

Results

For the index disease, 62% forgot to take a medication, 37% had run out of the medication, and 23% were careless about taking the medication. Common multivariate predictors (p < .001) of the three behaviors were: (1) lower perceived need for medications; (2) more medication affordability problems; (3) worse self-rated health; (4) diabetes or osteoporosis (relative to hypertension); and (5) younger age. Unique statistically-significant predictors of the three behaviors were: (a) ‘forgot to take medications’ - greater concerns about the index medication and male gender; (b) ‘run out of medications’ - non-white race, asthma, and higher number of total prescription medications; (c) ‘being careless’ - greater medication concerns. Mediational tests confirmed the hypothesis that the effect of medication beliefs (perceived need, concerns, and affordability) on intentional non-adherence is mediated through unintentional non-adherence.

Conclusions

For our study sample, unintentional non-adherence does not appear to be random and is predicted by medication beliefs, chronic disease, and sociodemographics. The data suggests that the importance of unintentional non-adherence may lie in its potential prognostic significance for future intentional non-adherence. Health care providers may consider routinely inquiring about unintentional non-adherence in order to proactively address patients’ suboptimal medication beliefs before they choose to discontinue therapy all together.

Unintentional non-adherence to chronic prescription medications: how unintentional is it really?

BACKGROUND

Unintentional non-adherence has been characterized as passively inconsistent medication-taking behavior (forgetfulness or carelessness). Our objectives were to: (1) study the prevalence and predictors of unintentional non-adherence; and (2) explore the interrelationship between intentional and unintentional non-adherence in relation to patients' medication beliefs.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional survey of adults with asthma, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, osteoporosis, or depression from the Harris Interactive Chronic Illness Panel. The analytic sample for this study included 24,017 adults who self-identified themselves as persistent to prescription medications for their index disease. They answered three questions on unintentional non-adherence (forgot, ran out, being careless), 11 questions on intentional non-adherence, and three multi-item scales assessing perceived need for medication (k = 10), perceived medication concerns (k = 6), and perceived medication affordability (k = 4). Logistic regression was used to model predictors of each unintentional non-adherence behavior. Baron and Kenny's regression approach was used to test the mediational effect of unintentional non-adherence on the relationship between medication beliefs and intentional non-adherence. Bootstrapping was employed to confirm the statistical significance of these results.

RESULTS

For the index disease, 62% forgot to take a medication, 37% had run out of the medication, and 23% were careless about taking the medication. Common multivariate predictors (p < .001) of the three behaviors were: (1) lower perceived need for medications; (2) more medication affordability problems; (3) worse self-rated health; (4) diabetes or osteoporosis (relative to hypertension); and (5) younger age. Unique statistically-significant predictors of the three behaviors were: (a) 'forgot to take medications' - greater concerns about the index medication and male gender; (b) 'run out of medications' - non-white race, asthma, and higher number of total prescription medications; (c) 'being careless' - greater medication concerns. Mediational tests confirmed the hypothesis that the effect of medication beliefs (perceived need, concerns, and affordability) on intentional non-adherence is mediated through unintentional non-adherence.

CONCLUSIONS

For our study sample, unintentional non-adherence does not appear to be random and is predicted by medication beliefs, chronic disease, and sociodemographics. The data suggests that the importance of unintentional non-adherence may lie in its potential prognostic significance for future intentional non-adherence. Health care providers may consider routinely inquiring about unintentional non-adherence in order to proactively address patients' suboptimal medication beliefs before they choose to discontinue therapy all together.

A literature review to explore the link between treatment satisfaction and adherence, compliance, and persistence

PURPOSE

To explore the published evidence on the link between treatment satisfaction and patients' compliance, adherence, and/or persistence.

METHODS

Articles published from January 2005 to November 2010 assessing compliance, adherence, or persistence and treatment satisfaction were identified through literature searches in Medline, Embase, and PsycInfo. Abstracts were reviewed by two independent researchers who selected articles for inclusion. The main attributes of each study examining the link between satisfaction and adherence, compliance, or persistence were summarized.

RESULTS

The database searches yielded 1278 references. Of the 281 abstracts that met the inclusion criteria, 20 articles were retained. In the articles, adherence and compliance were often used interchangeably and various methods were used to measure these concepts. All showed a positive association between treatment satisfaction and adherence, compliance, or persistence. Sixteen studies demonstrated a statistically significant link between satisfaction and compliance or persistence. Of these, ten demonstrated a significant link between satisfaction and compliance, two showed a significant link between satisfaction and persistence, and eight demonstrated a link between either a related aspect or a component of satisfaction (eg, treatment convenience) or adherence (eg, intention to persist). An equal number of studies aimed at explaining compliance or persistence according to treatment satisfaction (n = 8) and treatment satisfaction explained by compliance or persistence (n = 8). Four studies only reported correlation coefficients, with no hypothesis about the direction of the link. The methods used to evaluate the link were varied: two studies reported the link using descriptive statistics, such as percentages, and 18 used statistical tests, such as Spearman's correlation or logistic regressions.

CONCLUSION

This review identified few studies that evaluate the statistical association between satisfaction and adherence, compliance, or persistence. The available data suggested that greater treatment satisfaction was associated with better compliance and improved persistence, and with lower regimen complexity or treatment burden.

Knowledge of and attitudes towards depression and adherence to treatment: the Antidepressant Adherence Scale (AAS)

BACKGROUND

Non-adherence to treatment can result from forgetting, carelessness, stopping the drug when feeling worse, or stopping the drug when feeling better.

OBJECTIVE

To develop and psychometrically assess a brief instrument that can be easily used in clinical practice to measure adherence to antidepressants.

METHOD

We developed the Antidepressants Adherence Scale (AAS); a self report rating scale including four items to assess the degree to which forgetting, carelessness, and stopping due to feeling worse or feeling better interfere with adherence in the last 4 weeks. Our proposed four-item adherence instrument was developed based on previous research and theory.

PARTICIPANTS

Experts in mood disorders (n=12) participated in the formal validity assessment of the instrument, and the developed instrument was administered to patients who were prescribed antidepressants (n=63). All patients also completed a multiple choice question instrument to measure knowledge of depression, and a Likert self report questionnaire to assess attitudes towards depression and its treatment.

RESULTS

There was 90% agreement among experts that the items were highly relevant providing strong evidence for content validity. Also, there was empirical evidence for validity. There were significant correlations (p<0.05) between knowledge and attitude subscales and adherence items. The internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.66 for the instrument.

CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE

Knowledge of and attitudes to depression and its treatment may have significant impact on the adherence to antidepressants. The AAS can be used in clinical settings (2-3 min to administer) to evaluate patients' adherence to antidepressants.