Social and economical impact about problems with therapeutical adherence

Abstract

Introduction

Psychotic spectrum diseases are one of the most expensive illnesses in our society. Being able to recover as much social and laboral activity as possible has to be the goal. Trying to achieve this objective, we face different problems, as for example therapeutic adherence.

Objectives

Show the importance of an adequate treatment and adherence in order to keep the patient as much integrated in the society as possible, and in order to reduce the economic and social cost of the psychotic spectrum diseases.

Methods

Case report and bibliography review.

Results

The patient of this case is a 34 year old woman with a schizophrenia diagnosis given after 4 hospitalizations in psychiatry units. She had 4 years of stabilization taking an injectable antipsychotic, in which she was able to study and keep adequate familiar and sentimental relationships. After being badly recommended to retire her medication for some who identified himself as member of the “new psychiatry”, she began with new delusions and hallucinations which had to be treated at the Hospital Psychiatry Unit. She was close to get a statal job related to her architecture studies, but she was not able to go to the exam due to the exacerbation of her illness. In the review we see that the average economic cost per schizophrenic patient in developed European countries such as Germany is, at least, 14000€ per patient.

Conclusions

Adequate treatment adherence is highly important to keep an adequate control of the illness in order to sustain the better social live and job function.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.