Relationship between Attitude to Treatment in Patients with Schizophrenia on Discharge and Re-hospitalization

Objective: Non-compliance is one of the major problems in treatment of patients with schizophrenia. It is also the most significant risk factor for relapse and re-hospitalization. Previous studies showed that 25-70% of all patients with schizophrenia have negative attitudes to drugs. Therefore, the present study aimed to identify the relationship between drug attitude and discharge and the rate of re-hospitalization in patients with schizophrenia. Method: This cohort study was carried out on 200 hospitalized patients with schizophrenia. Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI) was completed for all the patients at the time of discharge. All patients were followed-up for one year for rehospitalization. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between drug attitude and specific risk factors. Results: The Mean age of patients was 37.34±10.74 years. Positive and negative drug attitudes were 68%.5 and 27% respectively. The rate of rehospitalization was 41.5% during the one year follow-up. The rate of negative attitude was not significantly different between the two groups with and without re-hospitalization. However, the mean DAI score was significantly lower in the re-hospitalized patients. Multivariate analysis showed that lower DAI score and being female were significant and independent risk factors for re-hospitalization. Conclusion: The more negative attitude the patients with schizophrenia had towards drugs, the more rate of re-hospitalization they had. Moreover, female patients are at higher risk for re-hospitalization.