Low treatment adherence with antipsychotics is associated with relapse in psychotic disorders within six months after discharge.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the association between treatment adherence with antipsychotics and schizophrenia relapse on a continuous scale. Method: A cohort study with a total of 477 patients with schizophrenia who were recently discharged from an inpatient clinic was performed. Results: In the 160 people who relapsed within the six months after discharge the average medication possession ratio was 0.50. This was 0.59 in the 317 persons who were not readmitted. The resulting hazard ratio for the medication possession ratio on relapse risk was 0.60 (95 % confidence interval: 0.42-0.88). Conclusion: The found hazard ratio indicates that the risk of relapse is substantially decreased when a patient is properly adherent to the antipsychotic therapy that was prescribed at the inpatient clinic.