Impact of nurse‐led medication adherence therapy on bipolar affective disorder: A randomized controlled trial.

CLINICAL drug trials; PATIENT aftercare; ANALYSIS of variance; PSYCHOEDUCATION; ACTIVITIES of daily living; SEVERITY of illness index; RANDOMIZED controlled trials; MEDICATION therapy management; PSYCHOLOGICAL tests; T-test (Statistics); HEALTH behavior; HOSPITAL care; BLIND experiment; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; CHI-squared test; PATIENT compliance; SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC factors; DATA analysis software; BIPOLAR disorder; NURSING interventions

Purpose: This study evaluated the impact of nurse‐led medication adherence therapy (MAT) on medication adherence behavior and symptom severity of inpatients with bipolar disorder. Method: Two arms, single‐blind, randomized controlled trial on individuals with bipolar disorder was conducted at inpatient department of mental healthcare setting, India. Eighty‐five participants were randomly allocated to MAT group and Treatment as usual group. Standard measures were used to assess medication adherence and symptom severity of both groups at baseline and follow‐up time points. Conclusion: MAT improved medication adherence behavior resulting in marked decrease in symptom severity of participants with bipolar disorders. Implications for Nursing Practice: Psychiatric nurses can effectively implement MAT for bipolar inpatients, which improves better clinical outcomes, prevent relapse, and readmissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]