Analysis of the Degree of Adherence to Therapy in Patients With Diagnosed Depression

Abstract

Introduction: Depression is the most common form of mental disorder of great social significance. Antidepressant treatment is a standard approach to treat depressed patients, but in order to be effective, patients need to follow their strictly prescribed treatments. Bad compliances are mostly associated with side effects, poor patient awareness, comorbidity of the disease, and a lack of communication with healthcare professionals. Objectives: The aim is to investigate the level of adherence to the therapy of patients with a diagnosed depressive condition. Methods: In order to achieve this aim, a survey was conducted among 120 patients with diagnosed depression when receiving their prescribed drugs from a pharmacy. Determination of patient`s adherence was done using the Morriski test-as well as a short questionnaire in parallel as a validated tool giving a clear idea of the degree of adherence to therapy. Results: The results show that the patients under study exhibited unsatisfactory adherence to the assigned therapy. The total coefficient for the entire population is 1.68. Compared with the reference values (0-4), patients were found to have 42% adherence. Conclusions: Inadequate adherence to therapy leads to a worsening of the condition of patients with depression while also increasing the cost of health care. A number of approaches are required such as patient education, quality communication between doctors, patients and pharmacists, socio-economic measures to change patient's beliefs and perceptions of treatment, and to improve adherence to the therapy and quality of life of patients suffering from depression.