Abstract

Background: With the rise in the prevalence of mental illness and disabilities associated with them, medication non-adherence is also increasing. Negative attitude toward psychotropics is one of the important factors in medication nonadherence. Based on attitude, patient can either be pharmacophilic or pharmacophobic, which in turn may be influenced by various sociodemographic factors.

Aims and Objectives: The aims and objectives of the study are to assess and compare the attitude of patients with various psychiatric diagnoses toward medication and its relation to other sociodemographic factors.

Materials and Methods: The study was designed in the East Nimar region of Central India at a tertiary care center over 10-month period after approval from the Institution Ethical Committee. Participants were recruited by convenience sampling as per DSM-5 criteria of schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, major depressive disorder, insomnia, substance use disorder, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The attitude was measured using the self-report attitude toward psychotropic medications questionnaire. Statistical analysis was done by Kruskal–Wallis test for comparison between groups.

Results: The study included total 246 patients from various disorders. Age-wise distribution varied among disorders but there was no statistically significant difference. Positive and negative score were also not statistically different when compared among different diagnoses. However, there was a significant difference in some responses of the questionnaire.

Conclusion: There is no difference in the attitude of psychiatric patients with different diagnoses toward psychotropics.

Key words: Pharmacophobic; Pharmacophilic; Self Report Attitude toward Psychotropic Medications Questionnaire