OBJECTIVE: Carry out a systematic review to assess medication adherence among schizophrenic spectrum patients. METHOD: The searches were carried out in the following databases: PubMed/Medline, Lilacs, SciELO and PePSIC considering articles published between 2001 and 2010. In the search strategy were used descriptors according to its definition in the MeSH DeCS: "schizophrenia" and "patient adherence" or "patient compliance" or "medication adherence". The correspondence in Portuguese and Spanish were respectively "esquizofrenia/esquizofrenia" and "cooperação do paciente/cooperácion del paciente" or "adesão à medicação/cumplimiento de lá medicación". Manual searches were also conducted in the references of selected articles. RESULTS: The bibliographic research resulted in 1,692 articles. But only 54 met criteria for compose this review. CONCLUSIONS: Most studies about the theme were conducted in developed countries, hindering the use of these results to our reality. The treatment compliance rates and the methods used for evaluation varied widely, but the factors associated with nonadherence were repeated, such as lack of insight, comorbid substance abuse, lack of social support, medication side effects, violent behavior, homelessness, and suicide attempts. Therefore, there is need of further national studies to investigate potential variables associated with noncompliance and its consequences for the population studied.
Systematic review; schizophrenia; patient compliance
