We need to talk about depot: effect of Community Treatment Order on depot antipsychotic medication compliance

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The current study compares the compliance rates of patients on depot who were on Community Treatment Orders with those who were not on such Order with a view to objectively quantify the effect of Community Treatment Orders on depot antipsychotics medication compliance. METHODS: "Day difference" measurements between the scheduled depot data and the administered date were collected for both voluntary and involuntary patients receiving depot medication at the same community clinic over a 6-month period. RESULTS: The results demonstrated a trend for greater compliance to depot medications by those not on a Community Treatment Order compared with those who were, but there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The current study highlighted that while Community Treatment Order may be a reasonable short-term tool to encourage patients' compliance at an early treatment stage, ongoing effort should be put into improving patients' attitude towards depot medications to ensure a better long-term outcome for individuals with schizophrenia.