Therapeutic Medication: adherence, level of knowledge, and difficulties among elderly patients with Bipolar Affective Disorder

• Grant number: 08/06706-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2008
• End date: October 31, 2009
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nursing - Psychiatric Nursing
• Principal Investigator: Adriana Inocenti Miasso
• Grantee: Ligiane Paula da Cruz de Sousa
• Host Institution: Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto (EERP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Bipolar Affective Disorder (BAD) is a chronic condition that affects approximately 1.6% of the population and represents one of the major causes of incapacitation in the world. The use of medication is a necessity in the treatment of patients with BAD. However, theory and practice are demonstrating that no problem is more frequent than the difficulty the patient has in following the treatment, which leads to a lack of disease control, to an increase in avoidable hospitalizations and to high costs in health care. Thus, the goals of this study are to verify the adherence and the level of knowledge among elderly patients with BAD in relation to therapeutic medication and to identify these people' difficulties to follow treatment. The sample will consist of all patients that had a consultation at a Mental Health Center of an interior city in São Paulo State during the three months after the start of data collection and that complied with the inclusion criteria for this study. The data will be collected through recorded semi-structured interviews, applying the Morinsky-Green Test, through a scale previously adopted by Stape (1979) and Miasso (2002), and an instrument elaborated by the researcher. A quali-quantitative approach will be used for data analysis. The quantitative data will be organized as an Excel spreadsheet and later analyzed using the program Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS, version 11.5). Qualitative data analysis will be based on the steps proposed by Minayo (1999). This study will allow for an improvement in the implementation of intervention strategies in health services directed at the rational use of medication by people with BAD, and also in the quality of care delivered to this population.