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The major focus of this study was to test whether family support predicts medication usage among 30 Mexican-American individuals with schizophrenia.
The study design was prospective—family and psychiatric status predictors were assessed near the time of psychiatric hospital discharge, and medication usage was judged for a 9-month time frame following discharge.
The Camberwell Family Interview (CFI), a personal and semistructured interview that yields rich family caregiver narratives of their relationship with their ill relative, was used to assess family caregivers’ supportive behaviors and expressed emotion (EE).
A separate team of bilingual coders who were blind to patients’ EE ratings was trained to code the family support variables based on the entire audio-taped CFI material.
There are 2 family support variables in the present study:
- Instrumental support was operationalized as the total number of statements that illustrated family caregiver ‘‘task-oriented’’ assistance, such as completion of errands; eg., ‘‘I helped him fill out an employment application’’.
- Emotional support was operationalized as the total number of statements that illustrated family caregiver demonstrations of reassurance, concern, and affection; eg, ‘‘I told her that I love her’’.
The 9-month period following psychiatric hospital discharge was the time frame for assessing medication usage. Those patients who took their medications at least 75% of the time without a 4-week or longer interval of discontinued use of medications were classified as ‘‘regular’’ medication users, while the rest were considered to be ‘‘irregular’’ medication users.
Higher levels of instrumental family support were associated with a greater likelihood of medication usage.
A logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess if family factors, including the independent dimensions of EE and family support variables, would predict the usage of psychiatric medications.
Only family instrumental support predicted medication usage significantly (odds ratio = 4.8).
Reference:
Ramírez García JI, Chang CL, Young JS, López SR, Jenkins JH. Family support predicts psychiatric medication usage among Mexican American individuals with schizophrenia. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2006; 41(8): 624-631.