Article May 15, 2006

Review of Treatments That Can Ameliorate Nonadherence in Patients With Schizophrenia.

John M. Kane, MD

J Clin Psychiatry 2006;67(suppl 5):9-14

Article Abstract
Nonadherence to medication is one of the major problems in treating patients with schizophrenia.Clinicians can use a variety of assessment strategies to identify patients who are nonadherent,although none of these is completely reliable. Interventions to improve adherence include psychosocialstrategies, second-generation oral antipsychotics, and long-acting injectable antipsychotics. Becauseof the potential for reduced relapse and rehospitalization rates and the availability of second-generation antipsychotics in injectable form, a case is made for using long-acting injectablesecond-generation antipsychotics, when appropriate, to treat patients with schizophrenia.