Medication adherence in psychosis: predictors and impact on outcome. A 2-year follow-up of first-admitted subjects.

Objective: To assess the baseline characteristics predicting poor medication adherence following a first admission for psychosis, and the impact of poor medication adherence on outcome.

Method: First-admitted subjects with psychosis (n = 65) were assessed at 6-month intervals over a 2-year follow-up. Medication adherence was assessed using multiple sources of information.

Results: Baseline lower occupational status, alcohol misuse and the intensity of delusional symptoms and suspiciousness predicted poor medication adherence during the 2-year follow-up. Over this period, subjects with poor medication adherence presented more frequently with an episodic course of illness and were more frequently readmitted, especially with regard to involuntary readmission.

Conclusion: In naturalistic conditions one out of two subjects with psychosis interrupts his/her treatment in the months following his/her first discharge from hospital. Therapeutic programmes aimed at improving medication adherence should be implemented early in the course of psychosis to reduce the deleterious consequences of poor medication adherence on clinical outcome.