Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
334174 | Psychiatry Research | 2008 | 5 Pages |
This study examined the reliability and predictive validity of electronic monitoring (EM) in assessing the oral antipsychotic medication adherence of outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Sixty-one adult outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who took a single oral antipsychotic medication were assessed monthly over a 6-month study period with EM of medication bottle opening. Symptom severity, as measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score, was assessed monthly over the 6-month study period. Cronbach's coefficient alpha revealed very high internal reliability (α = 0.94). A high degree of test–retest reliability was found (β ranged from 0.75 to 1.19 and r ranged from 0.63 to 0.90). As for predictive validity, greater mean EM adherence was significantly related to lower mean symptom severity.