Psychosis patients' knowledge, adherence and attitudes towards the naming of antipsychotic medication in Hong Kong.

AIM: Non-adherence to medication is a common and significant challenge to successful treatment of psychosis. Knowledge of prescribed antipsychotic medication may influence psychosis patients' willingness to adhere to prescriptions. This study aimed to assess knowledge of psychosis patients on their prescribed antipsychotic medication with regard to drug name, type, dosage, purpose, side effects and reasons for taking medication, so as to investigate the associations between knowledge and adherence. The study also aimed to evaluate patient attitudes towards the current Chinese name of 'anti-psyche drug' for antipsychotic medication in Hong Kong, and survey patients' opinions on alternative names for antipsychotic medication.

METHODS: A questionnaire was administered to 70 consecutive patients from the psychiatric ward and outpatient clinic at Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong.

RESULTS: Current knowledge of Hong Kong psychosis patients falls short in areas of drug name (51.4% unaware), drug type (40% unaware) and prescribed dosage (28.6% unaware). The rate of self-reported non-adherence in the study sample was 38.6%. Adherence to medication was found to be positively associated with knowledge of purpose for taking medication. The current Chinese name 'anti-psyche drug' had a rating of 47/100 among psychosis patients.

CONCLUSION: Measures should be taken to improve patient knowledge in areas of drug name, type and prescribed dosage. Reminding patients about the purpose of medication may also benefit adherence and overall treatment. Finally, because of the possible stigma of the current name of antipsychotic medication, an alternative term may be more favourable in promoting its acceptance in Hong Kong.