Symptom severity, quality of sleep, and treatment adherence among patients suffering from schizophrenia and depression

Aim: Treatment non-adherence is a common problem in patients suffering from schizophrenia and depression. This study investigated the possible relationships between symptom severity, quality of sleep, and treatment adherence.Methods: Thirty outpatients with schizophrenia and 58 outpatients with depression were enrolled in this study. The beck depression Inventory-II, the positive and negative syndrome scale, and the pittsburgh sleep quality index were used to assess symptom severity and quality of sleep, and sleep log data were used to measure treatment adherence.Results: The preliminary results showed no significant relationship between symptom severity and treatment adherence or between quality of sleep and treatment adherence in patients with depression. However, a significant positive relationship was found between negative symptoms and treatment adherence and a significant negative relationship between quality of sleep and treatment adherence in patients with schizophrenia.Conclusion: The present exploratory study revealed a positive relationship between symptom severity and treatment adherence and a negative relationship between quality of sleep and treatment adherence in patients with schizophrenia, but no significant relationships in patients with depression were found. Future studies are needed in order to gain a better understanding of possible risk factors related to treatment non-adherence