Attitude towards antipsychotics among out-patients with schizophrenia in Nigeria

• Published in: Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica Vol. 113; no. 3; pp. 207 - 211
• Main Authors: Adewuya, A. O., Ola, B. A., Mosaku, S. K., Fatoye, F. O., Eegunranti, A. B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.03.2006; Blackwell
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Ambulatory Care; Antipsychotic Agents - therapeutic use; antipsychotic medication; attitude; Attitude to Health - ethnology; Attitudes; Biological and medical sciences; Culture; Demography; Drug therapy; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Neuropharmacology; Nigeria; Patients; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Psycholeptics: tranquillizer, neuroleptic; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychopharmacology; Psychoses; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - drug therapy; side-effects; Surveys and Questionnaires; Nigeria; Africa; Psychosis; Human; Chemotherapy; Treatment; side-effects; Attitude; Neuroleptic; Psychotropic; Schizophrenia; Antipsychotic; antipsychotic medication
• ISSN: 0001-690X; 1600-0447
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2005.00745.x

Objective:  The study aim to assess the attitude of patients with schizophrenia attending out‐patient clinics in Nigeria towards antipsychotic medication and examine the factors associated with such attitude. Method:  Out‐patients with schizophrenia (n = 312) completed the 10‐item Drug Attitude Inventory. They were also evaluated for sociodemographic details, illness‐related and drug‐related variables. Results:  Overall, the patients had a good attitude towards antipsychotic medication. The factors significantly associated with poor attitude towards medication include presence of symptoms, presence of side‐effects like dyskinesia and sedation, lack of insight into the illness, and being employed. Conclusion:  Special attention should be paid to patients with these factors while designing programmes to improve overall compliance in patients with schizophrenia.