Prevalence, predictors, and consequences of long-term refusal of antipsychotic treatment in first-episode psychosis

Abstract

Objective: Studies investigating medication adherence in psychosis are limited by the need of a certain degree of medication adherence and the inclusion of mostly multiple-episode patients. By contrast, noninformed consent, epidemiological studies in first-episode psychosis (FEP) allow the assessment of an important subgroup of patients who persistently refuse antipsychotic medication and thereby never receive an adequate antipsychotic trial. The present study aims to assess the prevalence and predictors of such a "medication refusal" subgroup and its association with illness outcome. METHODS:: The present file audit study assessed medication adherence in an epidemiological cohort of 605 FEP..