Customized Adherence Enhancement Plus Long-acting Injectable Antipsychotic
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2012-08-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Psychotropic medications are a cornerstone of treatment for individuals with schizophrenia
and schizoaffective disorder, however rates of full or partial non-adherence can exceed 60%.
Inadequate adherence is associated with poor outcomes such as relapse, homelessness,
hospitalization, and increased health care costs. Studies have shown a direct correlation
between non-adherence and rates of relapse in schizophrenia; on average, non-adherent
patients have a risk of relapse that is 3.7 times greater than their adherent counterparts. A
major obstacle to good outcomes in the maintenance treatment of patients with severe mental
illness is difficulty with medication routines on an on-going basis. For this reason,
long-acting injectable antipsychotic medication is a particularly attractive treatment option
for populations with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, although it is unlikely that
medication treatment alone is likely to modify long-term attitudes and behaviors.
This prospective study is a pilot analysis of a combined approach which merges a psychosocial
intervention to optimize treatment attitudes towards psychotropic medication (CAE) and
long-acting injectable antipsychotic medication (L) in recently homeless individuals with
schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who are known to have on-going difficulties with
treatment non-adherence. It is expected that this combined approach (CAE-L) will improve
illness outcomes among the most vulnerable of populations with schizophrenia or
schizoaffective disorder.