The association between concurrent psychotropic medications and self-reported adherence with taking a mood stabilizer in bipolar disorder

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Michael Bauer - , Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden (Author)
  • Tasha Glenn - , ChronoRecord Association, Inc. (Author)
  • Paul Grof - , Mood Disorders Center of Ottawa, University of Toronto (Author)
  • Wendy Marsh - , University of Massachusetts Medical School (Author)
  • Kemal Sagduyu - , University of Missouri at Kansas City (Author)
  • Martin Alda - , Dalhousie University (Author)
  • Greg Murray - , Swinburne University of Technology (Author)
  • Ute Lewitzka - , Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden (Author)
  • Rita Schmid - , University of Regensburg (Author)
  • Sara Haack - , University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden (Author)
  • Peter C. Whybrow - , University of California at Los Angeles (Author)

Abstract

Objective: Multiple psychotropic medications are routinely prescribed to treat bipolar disorder, creating complex medication regimens. This study investigated whether the daily number of psychotropic medications or the daily number of pills were associated with self-reported adherence with taking a mood stabilizer. Methods: Patients self-reported their mood and medications taken daily for about 6 months. Adherence was defined as taking at least one pill of any mood stabilizer daily. Univariate general linear models (GLMs) were used to estimate if adherence was associated with the number of daily medications and the number of pills, controlling for age. The association between mean daily dosage of mood stabilizer and adherence was also estimated using a GLM. Results: Three hundred and twelve patients (mean age 38.4±10.9 years) returned 58,106 days of data and took a mean of 3.1±1.6 psychotropic medications daily (7.0±4.2 pills). No significant association was found between either the daily number of medications or the daily number of pills and adherence. For most mood stabilizers, patients with lower adherence took a significantly smaller mean daily dosage. Conclusions: The number of concurrent psychotropic medications may not be associated with adherence in bipolar disorder. Patients with lower adherence may be taking smaller dosages of mood stabilizers.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)47-54
Number of pages8
JournalHuman Psychopharmacology
Volume25
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 2010
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 20033908
ORCID /0000-0002-2666-859X/work/157318747

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • Adherence, Bipolar disorder, Mood stabilizer, Polypharmacy