Treatment adherence and long-term outcomes

The successful management of schizophrenia is an enormous public health issue. Although antipsychotic medications can be very helpful in reducing rates of relapse and rehospitalization, nonadherence to medication is a frequent cause of exacerbations in psychopathology, psychotic relapse, and rehospitalization. Relapses can have devastating consequences in a variety of clinical and functional domains. Nonadherence can result from a variety of factors that vary from patient to patient and vary over time in individual patients. A number of strategies have been developed to assess and facilitate adherence. The first critical step is clinician awareness of the scope of the problem and consideration of appropriate strategies to address it.