Medication and symptom severity in schizophrenia patients in COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

The present study aimed to determine the possible correlation between medical treatment [oral antipsychotics (OAP), long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAI), oral + long-acting injectable antipsychotics (OAP + LAI)] and symptom severity, and the compliance of schizophrenia patients with the medication during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted with 100 schizophrenia patients who applied to the psychiatry outpatient clinic during the pandemic and met the study criteria. Sociodemographic data form, Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS), and Functional Recovery Scale in Schizophrenia (FRSS) were applied to each participant. The rate of patients who quit current treatment was 19%. A statistically significant difference was determined between the patients on OAP and those on LAI, and between those on OAP and those on OAP + LAI based on the overall scale scores (p [Med-Science 2021; 10(3.000): 860-7]

Keywords

• schizophrenia
• long-acting injectable antipsychotics
• oral antipsychotics
• covid-19 pandemic