Abstract

Background: Schizophrenia is a recognized chronic and debilitating mental health disorder with various treatment modalities. Poor adherence to medication has however been a major problem in ensuring effectiveness of treatment. Psychoeducation aimed at improving medication adherence has been demonstrated to improve treatment outcome in patients with schizophrenia. However, there is a dearth of information on the effectiveness of psychoeducation in sub-Saharan Africa.
Methods: Using an experimental study design, 100 outpatients were allocated to intervention (IG) and control groups (CG). The IG received 2 sessions of a brief SIPI, each lasting 15 minutes and 2 weeks apart, while the control group received only the usual non-structured general mental health talk. The Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI-10) assessed participants' attitude to medication, while the pill counting method and Morisky Adherence Scale evaluated medication adherence. The Brief Psychiatry Rating Scale (BPRS) assessed symptom reduction. Data was analyzed with Chi-square and t-test.
Results: There was no significant difference in age and sex. The IG reported a more positive attitude towards medication and had significant medication adherence. SIPI proved to have an effect in symptom reduction in the IG.
Conclusion: Brief SIPI may have a positive impact on patients' attitude, adherence to medication, and symptom resolution. A larger randomized controlled trial may be done to test the impact of psychoeducation on medication adherence and symptoms reduction.

Key words: Psychoeducation, medication adherence, Symptom reduction, Nigeria