It is not easy having to take medication regularly. You have to remember to take them at the right times every day, that they are with you for those times even when you are travelling — and you may have to deal with side effects. People may empathise if you are popping pills to lower your blood pressure or for another 'physical' problem, but they are more likely to recoil in fear if they find out you are taking meds for schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder. No wonder, then, that many schizophrenia patients do not stick to their medication schedule and often relapse as a result. How can they be helped to stick to it? A Hong Kong study on ethnic Chinese outpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders seems to show that motivational interviewing-based therapy could be effective.
Up to 70% of psychiatric patients who use Hong Kong's community-based mental health services have been diagnosed with a disorder on the schizophrenia spectrum. Oral antipsychotic medication is often prescribed to reduce their symptoms, improve their psychosocial functioning, and prevent their relapse. However, previous studies have found that patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders had a low 40% to 70% adherence level to medication. Also, these patients with poor medication adherence would have high relapse rates of 50% to 70% within the first few years of their illness, which raised their risks of requiring a longer course of treatment and increased their risks of poor patient outcomes or prognosis.