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Why Do Schizophrenic Patients Refuse to Take Their Drugs?

1974; American Medical Association; Volume: 31; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1001/archpsyc.1974.01760130049008

1538-3636

Theodore Van Putten,

Mental Health and Psychiatry

Patients with schizophrenia often do not take their prescribed phenothiazines. This survey focused on the drug-taking behavior of 85 mostly chronic schizophrenic patients during a two-year period. Thirty-nine (46%) of these patients took less antipsychotic drug than the amount prescribed. The reluctance to take antipsychotic medication was significantly associated with extrapyramidal symptoms—most notably a subtle akathisia. It is proposed that drug reluctance and dysphoric response to antipsychotic drugs are often extrapyramidally based.