Effects of the Illness Representation Based Education Program (IRBEP) on Medication Adherence among Patients with Schizophrenia in Indonesia

Abstract

Objective: To compare medication adherence of patients withschizophrenia between the patients who attended the IllnessRepresentation Based Education Program (IRBEP) and the patients whodid not, and to compare medication adherence before and after the IRBEP.Method: This study employed a quasi-experimental research design. TheIRBEP was developed based on the Common Sense Model andConceptual Change Model, a representational approach to patienteducation. Forty patients with schizophrenia were assigned into anexperiment or control group equally by using covariates adaptiverandomization. The controlled covariates were family support and dosagefrequency. The Behavior of Medication Adherence Questionnaire (BMAQ)was used to capture medication adherence. Results: The patients in theexperiment group had significantly higher medication adherence than thosein control group (t = 6.53, P < 0.01). Experiment group had significantlyhigher medication adherence after attending the IRBEP than that atbaseline (t = -6.09, P < 0.01). Conclusion: The findings showed that theIRBEP was effective in enhancing medication adherence among patientswith schizophrenia.Keywords: medication adherence, a representational approach to patienteducation, schizophrenia, Indonesia