Download PDF
Pharmacopsychiatry 2012; 45(05): 204-207
DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1306311
Letter
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Adherence to Antidepressant Treatment: What the Doctor Thinks and What the Patient Says

N. Loayza   *
1   Department of Psychiatry, Section “Karl Jaspers”, Lausanne ­University ­Hospital, Hospital of Cery, Prilly-Lausanne, ­Switzerland
,
S. Crettol   *
2   Unit of Pharmacogenetics and Clinical ­Psychopharmacology, Center for Psychiatric Neurosciences, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne ­University Hospital, Hospital of Cery, Prilly-Lausanne, Switzerland
,
F. Riquier
1   Department of Psychiatry, Section “Karl Jaspers”, Lausanne ­University ­Hospital, Hospital of Cery, Prilly-Lausanne, ­Switzerland
,
C. B. Eap
2   Unit of Pharmacogenetics and Clinical ­Psychopharmacology, Center for Psychiatric Neurosciences, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne ­University Hospital, Hospital of Cery, Prilly-Lausanne, Switzerland
3   School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, ­University of Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

received 14 October 2011
revised 02 February 2012

accepted 11 February 2012

Publication Date:
02 April 2012 (online)

Also available at
    Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Adherence to antidepressant treatment has been shown to range from 30 to 70%. The aim of this study was to compare the patient’s self-report of adherence with the doctors’ estimation of adherence and therapeutic alliance in 104 outpatients with mood and/or anxiety disorder treated with antidepressants. The adherence scores estimated by the patients and the doctors were significantly different, the doctors underestimating adherence in 29% of cases and overestimating it in 31% of cases compared to the patients’ evaluation. Adherence measured by drug plasma concentration, despite being higher than expected from previously published reports, was in line with the patients’ self-reported score but not the doctors’ estimation. Finally, the patients’ and the doctors’ Helping Alliance scores were not related to adherence self-report.

Key words

patient compliance - medication adherence - antidepressive agents
* 

* Both authors contributed equally to this study.


 

  • References

  • 1 Demyttenaere K. Risk factors and predictors of compliance in depression. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2003; 13 (Suppl. 03) S69-S75
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 2 Demyttenaere K. Compliance during treatment with antidepressants. J Affect Disord 1997; 43: 27-39
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 3 Morisky DE, Green LW, Levine DM. Concurrent and predictive validity of a self-reported measure of medication adherence. Med Care 1986; 24: 67-74
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 4 Luborsky L, Barber JP, Siqueland L et al. The revised helping alliance questionnaire (HAq-II). J Psychother Pract Res 1996; 5: 261-271
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 5 Abernethy DR, Greenblatt DJ, Shader RI. Trimipramine kinetics and absolute bioavailability: Use of gas-liquid chromatography with nitrogen-phosphorus detection. Clin Pharmacol Ther 1984; 35: 348-353
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 6 Eap CB, Baumann P. Analytical methods for the quantative determination of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors for therapeutic drug monitoring purposes in patients. J Chromatogr B Biomed Appl 1996; 686: 51-63
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 7 Choong E, Rudaz S, Kottelat A et al. Therapeutic drug monitoring of seven psychotropic drugs and four metabolites in human plasma by HPLC-MS. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2009; 50: 1000-1008
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 8 Choong E, Rudaz S, Kottelat A et al. Quantification of 4 antidepressants and a metabolite by LC-MS for therapeutic drug monitoring. J Chromatogr B 2011; 879: 1544-1550
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 9 George CF, Peveler RC, Heiliger S et al. Compliance with tricyclic antidepressants: the value of four different methods of assessment. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2000; 50: 166-171
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 10 Baumann P, Hiemke C, Ulrich S et al. The AGNP-TDM expert group concensus guidelines: therapeutic drug monitoring in psychiatry. Pharmacopsychiatry 2004; 37: 243-265
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar