Patient Preference and Adherence (Sep 2016)

Professionals’ perception on the management of patients with dual disorders

  • Roncero C,
  • Szerman N,
  • Terán A,
  • Pino C,
  • Vázquez JM,
  • Velasco E,
  • Garcia-Dorado M,
  • Casas M

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 10
pp. 1855 – 1868

Abstract

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Carlos Roncero,1,2 Néstor Szerman,3 Antonio Terán,4 Carlos Pino,5 José María Vázquez,6 Elena Velasco,7 Marta García-Dorado,7 Miguel Casas1,2 1Addiction and Dual Diagnosis Unit, CIBERSAM, Hospital Vall Hebron, Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB), Barcelona, Spain; 2Department of Psychiatry, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; 3Outpatient Mental Health Clinic El Retiro, Gregorio Marañón University Hospital, Madrid, Spain; 4Outpatient Drug Clinic, Hospital San Juan de Dios, Palencia, Spain; 5Pontevedra City Council Drug Dependence Service, Galician Health Service (Xunta de Galicia), Pontevedra, Spain; 6Outpatient Drug Clinic Sants, Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB), Barcelona, Spain; 7Medical Affairs Department, Janssen-Cilag S.A., Madrid, Spain Background: There is a need to evaluate the professionals’ perception about the consequences of the lack of therapeutic adherence in the evolution of patients with co-occurring disorders.Methods: An online survey, released on the Socidrogalcohol [Spanish Scientific Society for Research on Alcohol, Alcoholism and other Drug Addic­tions] and Sociedad Española de Patología Dual [the Spanish Society of Dual Pathology] web pages, was answered by 250 professionals who work in different types of Spanish health centers where dual diagnosis patients are assisted.Results: Most professionals perceived the existence of noncompliance among dual diagnosis patients. Almost all of these professionals (99%) perceived that noncompliance leads to a worsening of the progression of the patient’s disorder, in both the exacerbation of mental disorders and the consumption of addictive substances. Most of the professionals (69.2%) considered therapeutic alliance as the main aspect to take into account to improve the prognosis in this population. The primary purpose of treatment must be the improvement of psychotic-phase positive symptoms, followed by the control of behavior disorders, reduction of craving, improvement of social and personal performances, and reduction of psychotic-phase negative symptoms.Conclusion: Most professionals perceived low adherence among dual diagnosis patients. This lack of adherence is associated with a worsening of their disease evolution, which is reflected in exacerbations of the psychopathology and relapse in substance use. Therefore, we propose to identify strategies to improve adherence. Keywords: dual diagnosis, professionals’ perception, noncompliance, decompensation, relapse

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