Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study was to explore the correlation of violent behavior with insight, clinical symptoms and treatment adherence in patients with schizophrenia.

Method: 104 randomly selected inpatients between 20 and 65 years of age, treated with a diagnosis of schizophrenia according to DSM-IV-TR criteria at Bakırköy Research and Training Hospital for Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry were included in the study. The Schedule For Assessment of Three Components of Insight (SAI), Overt Aggression Scale (OAS), Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) Turkish forms were applied to the patients.

Results: Treatment adherence was correlated with insight levels. Mean OAS scores of “non-adherent” patients were significantly higher than patients with treatment adherence. SAI scores were inversely correlated with PANSS positive and negative symptoms, but not correlated with PANSS general psychopathology scores. The OAS scores were found to be correlated with PANSS positive symptoms scores merely. There was no correlation between SAI and OAS scores.

Conclusion: The results indicate that treatment adherence is correlated positively with insight and negatively with aggression. Aggression and severity of illness are correlated as well in our sample. Community-based treatment programs and psychoeducation of outpatients should be conducted to maintain treatment adherence. Thus, violent behavior could be minimized by diminishing the severity of illness.

Key words: Schizophrenia, insight, aggression