Mental patients and their compliance profile to psychopharmacological treatment

Abstract

Non-compliance with drug-based treatment is a complex and universal phenomenon that develops gradually during psychiatric treatments, and is related to disease aggravation. The purpose of this study was to describe the profile of using a given medication in the clientele of a community mental healthcare service and its characteristics. We performed a retrospective study in the medical records of patients who used Haloperidol Decanoate in a period of 1 year and 8 months. 167 medical records were analyzed. 60% of the patients presented irregular use of medication, which reflects in high risks of relapse and re-hospitalizations. This profile configures low compliance with the prescribed drug treatment, leading to reflections about which factors influence this behavior and which measures could be implemented in the maintenance of extra-hospital treatment for these patients.